Mutare Ad Custodiam
by ArcturusWolf
Summary: Abducted from Remnant, Team RWBY finds themselves caught in a war on an unknown planet. A war against aliens. With the alien threat looming over them, how much will they be willing to sacrifice to protect their friends and loved ones? How much will they be willing to change to protect everything they know? And will they ever find a way back to Beacon? [WhiteRose / Bumblebee]
1. 01 - Operation Stolen Icicle

"Central, this is Raven Four. We have splashed the bogey. I repeat, we have splashed the bogey,"

The typical chaotic chatter that filled Mission Control was temporarily silenced as the monitoring officers registered what had just been reported by the interceptor. Only the soft whirring of the ventilation fan high above the room could be heard; every man and woman in the room having stopped what they were doing to stare in stunned disbelief at the blinking red icon of a crashed UFO on the hologlobe on a remote island in the Pacific.

"Copy that, Raven Four. Requesting video confirmation of the bogey,"

"Roger, Central. Setting up video link,"

The image of the downed UFO on the central screen – a flattened, rectangular object – finally broke the stupor of the personnel in Mission Control. An uproar of cheering and whistling rocked the room; officers gave each other high fives and thumbs-ups, while others bumped fists with their neighbours in gestures of elation.

All except one figure in the centre of the room. Central Officer Bradford's face remained grim despite all of the events around him. Coughing into his microphone, he keyed into the speakers in the soldiers' barracks.

"Strike One, this is Central. Report to the hangar for a sortie,"

A single skirmish did not win a battle, let alone a war. And the long war had only just started. He held no illusions that the crash had killed the crew of the alien craft. After all, there was a saying among XCOM operatives that proved grimly true, time and again.

The only good alien was a dead alien, and the only way an alien is dead is if you've put two shots between its eyes.

And a forced, violent re-entry did not classify as a way to make sure an alien was _really_ dead.

* * *

"Central, this is Big Sky. Holding position above the AO, ready to set Strike One down,"

"Reading you five-by-five, Big Sky. Commence insertion,"

The pilot of the Skyranger grimaced. It was fortunate that the crash had taken down all external defences present on the alien vehicle. From the sheer size of the thing, he wondered exactly _what_ did the aliens bring on it. It was by far the largest alien vessel that he had seen, being almost as large as an entire football field by footprint alone; and from its height, he could assume that there were multiple decks on it. If the burning plasma cannons on the bow and stern of the ship were any indication, it was also _very_ heavily armed.

"Alright, folks. We're in the AO," Big Sky said, looking over his shoulder at the operatives in the back, "Raven Four managed to bring down this ship, and Central said that they want every last bit of salvage from it. That means you guys are going to neutralise all hostiles in the AO, and get your asses back into this ship when you're done. We have no idea about enemy composition or troop count, and our heat sensors are blinded by the amount of fires burning inside that ship. Stay alert, stay alive, and put them in bodybags before-"

"Thanks, squirt. I'll take it from here. Alright, rookies, listen up!" growled a grizzled old operative, standing up and unholstering his laser rifle. There was an eyepatch over his right eye, with what appeared to be most of the right half of his face missing from some terrible blow. "For most of you, this will be your first mission. I know how that feels; all the weeks and months of training, all the drills, all the exercises, all for just this moment. You want to put a bullet or several between the aliens' eyes. And let me say this just once; it's a damn good goal you got,"

A few nervous chuckles echoed through the crew hold, and the old operative had the faintest of toothless smiles on his lips. But without warning, he seized a combat knife from his boot and had it at the throat of the nearest rookie on his right, as quick as a flash. Gone was any trace of joviality, replaced by a burning rage behind icy eyes.

"And let me tell you," he continued, sheathing the knife, "That the more eager you are to put bullets in those aliens, the faster you're going to get killed. Stay frosty, stay focused, remember your training, and _maybe_ – just _maybe_ – you'll get back to HQ in one piece. Do I make myself clear, rookies?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" they all chorused.

"That's Major Stonewall to you all!" roared the old operative, "Ready your weapons! We move out in five seconds!"

The lights on the skyranger turned red as the vehicle came to a shuddering stop and the rear door fell open. The four frontmost rookies rushed out, their guns held at the ready and scanning for any threats, followed by the major and the three remaining rookies. There was a small valley in front of them, filled with charred and fallen trees where the crashed UFO had torn a furrow through the dense forest.

"So remind me why we only got Stonewall?" one of the frontmost rookies whispered to his friend. The lad was young; perhaps barely older than twenty, with the smooth skin and clear voice that came with youth. He shifted uneasily in his baggy uniform as he scanned the horizon for hostiles.

"1-4, move north-northeast, behind that tree. See if you can find any enemies,"

"Copy that. Moving," the young lad replied, nearly jumping when Stonewall's orders came through his earpiece. He quietly sprinted for the gnarled tree in question, peeking to its side. Just beyond, perhaps only thirty paces away, a pair of small, grey aliens were scrabbling over something; watched over by a taller, thin humanoid with a long, glowing rifle. The ship itself was pockmarked with holes where the interceptor had laid its missiles into the alien vessel; a fierce blaze was burning inside, no doubt fuelled by ruptured fuel lines within.

"Eyes on the enemy. Two sectoids, one thin man," he whispered. A shift in the shadows inside the ship cause him to look closer. "I think that's...a muton...and something else. Inside the ship, on the left ramp,"

"Affirmative. 1-2, 1-3, 1-5, get to the ridge overlooking the crash site and rain lead on them. 1-6, 1-7 and myself will be right behind you, 1-4. The moment that they move, fire on everything that still lives,"

Three men nodded and crept as quietly as they could to the rocky ridge just above the crashed UFO's doorway. "1-2, 1-3, 1-5. Pick a target, one per person. On the count of three, put a bullet through their heads. Rest of you, weapons up and ready to fire if the rookies miss,"

"Three...two...one...firing!"

A hailstorm of bullets peppered the aliens outside the ship. Or rather, mostly peppered the ground _around_ the aliens outside the ship. Only one of the sectoids fell, dropped by a lucky headshot by one of the rookies above. The thin man and the remaining sectoid scampered off with minor wounds; a graze above the leg on the sectoid, and a broken arm for the thin man.

"1-4, 1-5, 1-6, 1-7, fire at will," growled Stonewall, glaring in disappointment at the three rookies above. It was such an easy shot to be taken; at unaware enemies, not even moving, and yet they _still_ failed to kill. How he wished that the sergeants that he usually went on missions with were available!

The other four rookies opened fire on the remaining aliens, managing to land enough glancing hits to finally bleed them all to death. "X-rays neutralised. 1-2, 1-3, 1-5, maintain your current position and watch for any enemy movement. The rest of you, reload and-"

"Mutons incoming!" shouted 1-4. There were two of them; one in a green suit of armour, and the other in red. The one in green beat its chest and brandished its plasma rifle, while the other ground its armoured fists together and leered at the line of cowering rookies, roaring viciously. Without warning, the green-clad muton lifted its rifle and let loose a bolt of plasma, blasting an unwitting rookie's head to fleshy bits with a wet squelch.

"Oh god. Oh god," whimpered the female one beside the dead rookie. She felt the still-warm pieces of bone and flesh stuck to her cheek. That man who was just alive – and now dead – was _on_ her. That could have well been her. Or anyone else around her. "Evac! We need an evac! Now, damn it, _now!_ " she shrieked, pulling her assault rifle's trigger and holding it down. A torrent of rounds made it downrange, pelting the muton's armour with dozens of pieces of hot lead.

"Son of a bitch! Fire at will!" the major shouted. Not that he even needed to issue the orders; the other rookies fired upon the mutons at the moment that they witnessed the death of 1-5.

Fear, it seemed, had a way of motivating even the greenest of rookies to act independently. The muton who had shot one of their own members dead soon fell to the ground, shredded by the combined firepower of numerous assault rifles.

Yet soon the reason why fear was a poor motivator showed itself. The berserker muton remained untouched, while each of the remaining soldiers were rewarded with empty clicks when they held the triggers of their weapons. If an alien could grin, the berserker was now sporting the widest one that the major had ever seen as it started its run towards their lines.

"I'm dry!" shouted the one beside the major, followed by similar statements from her peers. The berserker, however, snarled in fury and continued its charge at the nearest rookie.

1-6, panicked female on the team, could only gasp and stutter in fear and shock when the towering mountain of muscle loomed over her. She could smell its rancid breath, its foul saliva dripping on her arm. The berserker leered at her as it pulled an arm back, and she closed his eyes, hoping that the end would be quick.

"It's high noon, you fat bastard!"

 _Boom. Boom. Boom.  
_

Three thunderous blasts rang through the small clearing. Her ears still ringing from the noise, she cracked an eye open, wondering why she was not spread out all over the forest floor yet.

In front of her stood the berserker. Or rather, what was left of it. The top half of its head was missing, a fountain of blood pulsing from the frayed veins protruding from the stub. Slowly, it crumbled to its knees, still twitching.

"Your name, missy?" Stonewall growled at her. An enormous pistol was clenched in his hand, its barrel still smoking. She stared at the pistol, wondering just what kind of weapon had enough power to decapitate a berserker in just three shots. "I won't repeat myself. _Your name, missy?_ "

"I—I—Emily-"

"You are _not_ Emily," he snorted, "You are Rookie 1-6. Is that a weapon in your hands or not, 1-6?"

"Yes, yes it is. Sir,"

"It's not a toy, lass. You point it at the enemy. You pull that trigger. You make the enemy dead. You make them use the bodybags, not you. And from what I've seen, you almost needed a bodybag yourself. And you do not want that, do you, soldier?"

She gulped and shook her head nervously. Stonewall marched up to her and shoved the rifle into her chest. "Then you damn well better mean it, rookie. Unless you want to end up like 1-5 next to you. Keep your eyes on the prize, and stay frosty. Because one day, I might not be able to put one between the eyes of the ugly that's about to turn you into paste for his dinner,"

"U-understood, Major,"

"Is that a yes, or a maybe, soldier? Well? I'm listening!"

"Crystal clear, Major!"

"Good. Now what the hell are the rest of you waiting for? We're boarding that damn ship, and making sure that everything in there is dead!"

The inside of the ship was littered with the corpses of dead aliens. Sectoids and thin men, apparently killed by the impact of the crash. There were the occasional mutons, burning where they had succumbed to the noxious fumes spewing from shattered cylinders containing sickly green liquid. The entire ship appeared to consist of a single enormous chamber, piled high with rows upon rows of metal crates and cylinders of assorted glowing liquids. Racks of golden crystals lay scattered on the floor, many shattered into a fine powder. With the ship's power out, the room was lit by the fierce flames that still burned from ruptured pipelines.

"One-Actual, this is Central. A satellite sweep has been completed moments ago, and we detect no additional hostiles in your area. Be advised that there appears to be an energy anomaly in your immediate vicinity. Something is emitting regular pulses of energy, about thirty paces from your current position. It does not appear to match the signature of any known alien weapons; use caution,"

Thirty paces. That was not too far. Stonewall cursed and lifted up his rifle, flicking on the flashlight underneath his weapon. The others likewise followed suit, nervously sweeping their lights over the wreckage inside the ship. Even if Central had said that the entire ship was clean from their observations, it never hurt to be cautious.

"What is this?" one of the rookies spoke, kicking open a metal crate. Inside were bars and sheets of an unknown silvery-yellow metal.

The same metal as the aliens' armour was made of. Looking at each other, a few of the others lifted the lids on other crates, finding similar items inside.

"I think...we've hit a supply ship of some sort," Emily whispered. She opened a few more crates; one had a stash of greenish, glowing grenades; another had half a dozen of those pistols that the sectoids used, and the last that she pried open was filled with some sort of reddish dust that burned her hand on contact.

"Ouch!" she hissed, shaking the flaming powder off her hand and hastily closing the container. Some things were perhaps better left untouched.

She continued walking down the row of unmarked crates, careful to not open any more. Eventually, at the end of the row, she found the strangest sight in front of her.

There were several man-sized casket-like containers stacked neatly on top of each other in a corner, seemingly still in place despite the force of the impact. Perhaps it was due to the glowing blue pads underneath each casket, which seemed to suspend the caskets above the ship's metal floor. Regardless, Emily was drawn in by curiosity. The rest of the ship was in disarray, with items hurled to the ground by the impact; even the majority of the crew had not survived the impact. Why would these be so important that they were protected so well?

Emily grunted as she shifted a few metal crates, stacking them one on top of another so that she could have a look inside one of the caskets. The glass lid of the topmost one was coated in a thick layer of frost. There were even a few larger ice crystals sticking out of its smooth surface like tiny icy daggers. But beneath all of that, she could only see a faint dark shape in the acid green fluid inside.

"1-6, what have you got?" Stonewall spoke, his heavy footsteps nearly startling her off the pile of crates she was standing on.

Swallowing, she wiped down the glass lid with her sleeve. She bit back a hiss of pain when a wave of incredible cold washed over her arm, even through the insulated fabric covering it. After several attempts, however, enough of the ice covering had been melted away, revealing the container's contents.

"I...I think these are abductees. There's a...girl in this one," she murmured, blushing, eyeing the form inside the casket. There was a slender young woman floating inside. Her thigh-length silver-white hair was the only thing preserving her modesty, loosely covering her body like a shroud. If the gentle rise and fall of her chest was any indication, she was still alive, if unconscious or in a deep sleep. For someone so delicately built, she had a rather long and deep scar running over her left eye, as though she had been wounded by some bladed melee weapon. Just who was this woman? And why did the aliens take such a keen interest in her that she would be kept in stasis on a supply ship?

"Abductees? Well then, this changes things. Central, do you copy?"

"We read you, One-Actual. Status report?"

"We have alien abductees in the AO," said Stonewall, tapping on the caskets in front of him. "Likely to be four of them, at least one guaranteed. What are your orders?"

A few moments passed before his comlink crackled to life again. "Strike One, this is Central. Move the abductees to a safe location outside, along with as much salvage as you can from the ship. Once you're done, return to the Skyranger for evac with all remaining operatives. We'll send in a heavy transport to lift the goods out. Good work out there, everyone. Central out,"

* * *

A/N

The moment when you're trying to do a mission, and your A-team is all gravely wounded or fatigued, and you have to send a squad of rookies... Well, let's just say that panic can do amazing things in battle. Usually not good things, but amazing things nonetheless. Like throwing HE grenades at the rest of your squad's cover, all because of that one berserker trying to run at your team.

Sometimes, though, the game likes to make you giggle a little at the names they give for operations. The first one that sort of made sense I've gotten out of the Long War mod was Operation God Slayer. And then the following one - a terror mission, in which every single rookie I sent panicked - was aptly named Operation Flaming Dump. Because I think every single rookie probably burned a hole in their pants with the amount of brown noise the aliens were emitting.

A note about this X-Com crossover, however. While I feel that the Long War mod achieved the depth of customisation that was sorely needed in XCOM:EW, the combat mechanics present in the game were sorely lacking - and not through lack of effort by the LW mod devs, who obviously did everything they could with the game. As such, I'm mixing in a few class mechanics from XCOM 2 where appropriate.

In any event, I hope that you enjoy reading this. Feedback is appreciated, as usual.

Next up: The Rose awakens.


	2. 02 - Parallel Convergence

"Pulse is stable. Blood pressure still low, but stable. Doctor Vahlen, any readouts?"

"Brain activity is low. Subject appears to be unconscious. Pupils are still dilated. Refill hydration drip, point-nine percent saline. Also refill the nutritional drips,"

 _Unconscious?_ Ruby thought to herself. Her thoughts were dull and indistinct, a jumble of incoherent garbled words and pictures. Her eyes were open, though the only thing that she could see was a blinding white light above her head, shining directly onto her eyes. Try as she might, she simply couldn't close her eyes.

There was a vague shadowy outline of a person hovering over her in the corner of her sight. A woman, judging by her voice. She held some instrument in her hands, though Ruby could not tell what it was exactly.

"Prepare DNA sequencer for sample," the woman spoke, in a calm, clinical tone. She brought the instrument down where Ruby's arm would be, and the girl felt a slight stabbing pain for the briefest of moments.

"DNA sequencer primed, Doctor Vahlen. Ready to receive sample,"

That woman – Doctor Vahlen – moved out of Ruby's sight. A machine to her right beeped sharply, before it began to emit faint rumbling noises. After a minute, it beeped loudly three times, followed by a loud sigh from a male doctor somewhere in the room. _What are they doing to me?_

"Mitochondrial DNA does not match, or even approximate, any of the known samples provided by the United Nations. Doctor, do you think...?"

"It is always a possibility, Doctor Shen. Parallel convergent evolution is not impossible in the infinite void of space, and certainly not impossible when guided by aliens. Or if she was derived from abducted humans. Despite how...human-like...she looks, she is most certainly not from Earth, as the DNA examination indicates. A disturbing possibility is that the aliens had engineered her to be an infiltration agent, but that would not explain why she had been restrained by magnetic shackles inside the stasis chamber that she was confined in,"

 _Earth? Aliens? Infiltration agent? Dust, what's going on?_

"Doctor Vahlen, I'm picking up increased heart rate and increased brain activity from Subject Four," the male voice – Doctor Shen – spoke, in a more animated manner. Sure enough, the beeping on Ruby's left accelerated in time with her heartbeat. The light over her head blacked out for a second when he moved his hand over her face, but then returned with a vengeance. Smarting, she blinked, wishing that her eyes weren't so dry.

"She's responding to visual stimuli. Doctor, she's awake!"

"Then put her back under anaesthesia. Midazolam hydrochloride, five milligrams," Vahlen said offhandedly.

She wanted to protest. To speak out. Where was she? Where was the rest of her team? What happened to Beacon? But her tongue felt as though it were made of rubber, and even her lips could barely move. And soon she felt nothing more, falling into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Ruby groaned and slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes. She did not know how long had passed since she had been put to sleep in that strange room. Or if what had happened was even real. Whatever the case, her entire body felt stiff and tired, as though she had gone for several laps around all of Beacon without using her semblance. Shifting herself over the edge of the bed, she stumbled unsteadily as her legs almost gave way.

"You're awake," yawned an unfamiliar female voice. A sleepy-looking woman was standing outside of the room, a large blocky weapon held lazily in one hand.

The young huntress tilted her head to one side, trying to remember if anyone that she met ever dressed like that. The weapon was unfamiliar; it looked too advanced to be of anything but Atlesian make, but the baggy olive green uniform that the woman wore was definitely not of any kingdom on Remnant. The room that she was in, too, wouldn't have been out of place in Atlas; the walls were of brightly polished metal, and the floor of a dull grey concrete, though there weren't so many lights spread out all over the place. The room that she was in was also extremely cramped; there was only a metal bed in one corner, and a plain metal sink and toilet in another, with little else in it.

Deciding that maybe she was still dreaming, Ruby lifted a hand to her cheek and pinched as hard as she could, yelping in pain.

"Oww. Okay. It's real. She's real. This is all real," Ruby said, rubbing her cheek, "Hey, why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's...well, I guess you've been asleep for ages," the woman muttered, rubbing the back of her head and turning away, blushing furiously. "So it probably makes sense if you don't think any of this is real. But this is real alright. Hey, you know, we've left some clothes in that bag on your bed. How about...putting something on,"

Now it was Ruby's turn to flush a bright scarlet. She did not notice that she had left nothing to the imagination; hastily, she grabbed the bag and threw on the clothes inside with incredible speed. "Tell me when you're done!" called out the guard, who had thankfully turned around and was staring at a particularly interesting spot on the blank wall in front of her.

The clothes were not particularly flattering, though they were comfortable enough to wear. A pair of baggy cloth pants, patterned in chaotic splotches of browns and greens, sat rather high on her, held up by a black leather belt that almost had to go around twice to fit her waist. At least the light olive turtleneck clung tightly to her form, though its sleeves almost hid her hands. She looked curiously at the last piece of the ensemble; a soft black beret, with neither a peak nor a brim, with a brass emblem stuck to the elastic band at its base.

"Vigilo Confido?" she whispered to herself, running a finger over the curious design on the pin. Those were words on the top of the emblem that she could not recognise.

"If you're saying that, then you've probably found the hat. You done in there?"

"I guess. This all feels weird,"

"Ha. Understatement of the year, right there. Central said that he wanted to talk to you and your friends about something-"

"Wait, my friends are here too?!" exclaimed Ruby, dashing towards the door, "Where are they? I haven't seen them since...since..."

"Whoa, calm down there. Let me finish first," the woman gasped, flinching when Ruby crashed against the locked door with a yelp and fell flat on her backside, "They're still asleep, last I checked. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm...I'm fine. What do you mean, they're still asleep?"

"Damn it, I said too much again. Rookie, get a hold of yourself, girl," the woman cursed under her breath. Taking a deep breath, she said to Ruby, "I'm not allowed to say. As it is, I've already said too much. Anyway, now that you're awake and dressed up, I'm supposed to take you to Doctor Vahlen. She said she wanted to speak with you about something,"

Doctor Vahlen. Ruby pursed her lips, thinking about _where_ exactly she'd heard that name before. She vaguely remembered something about aliens and a lot of bright lights, as well as being laid out on some sort of table. She didn't have much time to think, however, before she was shaken out of her thoughts by the sound of metal grinding on metal as the door in front of her slid open.

"Now, if you'd come with me. Please,"

Stepping out of the room, Ruby glanced around at her surroundings. Wherever she was, it almost appeared to be a prison, with at least a dozen cells almost identical to the one she was in lined up along the sides of a narrow hallway. The only way in and out of the place was a cramped elevator on one end of the hallway, which was half-blocked by unmarked metal crates.

"E-excuse me. What's your name?" Ruby asked the woman uncertainly, now remembering that she hadn't even asked who she was talking to.

"Rookie is fine for now, until Central decides to say that I'm allowed to give my name," she replied dryly, "Now, we're going to be headed up. In the elevator,"

They squeezed past the crates and into the waiting elevator. A quick look at the elevator's control panel showed Ruby that there were only four floors wherever she was at – and all of them were below ground.

"What sort of place is all below ground?" she whispered to herself. The elevator lurched upwards, causing her to almost stumble over from the sudden jolt.

"Just a place that no civilian should ever see. Doctor Vahlen should be inside the first room on the left,"

The 'room', it seemed, was not so much a room as it was a gigantic cavern filled with all sorts of scientific equipment. There was a workbench in the centre of the room, with a rather oversized microscope on top of it, which was being used by a female scientist in a white and green lab coat. Several computer screens covered the wall on the far side of the room, where a number of scientists stood around, discussing the strange images being shown on them. Ruby shivered a little when she registered the uncomfortable chill in the room, courtesy of the stale cold air being blown in from the strongly-built steel vents on the ceiling.

"Doctor Vahlen, here's your...subject," Rookie said, placing a hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"Specialist Vargas. You brought her here, without restraining her, as is protocol for unknowns? Have we forgotten to provide you with handcuffs?"

"S-Sorry, ma'am!" the rookie - Specialist Vargas - stuttered out, bowing her head and apologising profusely. Ruby was stunned; what exactly _had_ she done wrong?

"Never mind. The subject appears to be co-operative. Make no mistake; I shall speak to Major Stonewall about this infraction later. You may resume your original duties now," the chestnut-haired woman using the microscope said crisply. She leant back from the microscope and turned around, surveying Ruby intently.

"Uh...hello?" the huntress said, unnerved by the calculating gaze and cold demeanour of the doctor.

"Ah, yes. Pleasantries. Unnecessary and excessive," Vahlen said dismissively, approaching Ruby. Behind her were two other men, likewise rising from their seats around the workbench. "Ah, come to join us, Doctor Shen, Central Officer Bradford?"

"You know, Doctor Vahlen, it would do you no harm to greet our guest properly," chided the man to her left. His green leather jacket was appeared to have several patches of grease and oil on it, though his shirt and tie somehow remained spotless. He wore a kindly smile on his face, though the bags under his eyes and the deep wrinkles on his face showed that he was very much exhausted. "I'm Doctor Raymond Shen. I assume that you have rested well after last night's operation?"

"Operation? What operation?" Ruby asked.

The remaining man – the one with a pristine olive-coloured woollen pullover, who must be Central Officer Bradford – shared a dark look with Doctor Shen. "You were kept in an alien stasis container for an unknown amount of time. Strike One recovered you and three others from a crashed alien supply ship. By the time that you arrived here, the power cells supplying energy to the life support systems on the stasis pods had almost drained. It took Doctor Vahlen and Doctor Shen the entire night to remove the four of you from those stasis pods and stabilise you,"

"Alien stasis pods? Aliens? A ship?" muttered Ruby agitatedly, scratching her head, "I don't know what you're talking about. And where are my friends?"

"Your friends are likely still asleep, as you were the first one to be treated. They should be awake soon," Shen said, holding up his hands, "Please, calm down. Neither you nor they are in immediate danger. We'd like to ask you a few questions, if you're willing to answer them. First things first, we've checked the records of every single one of Earth's citizenship records, and we could not find any of yours nor your friends' records. I'd like to know where you're from,"

"I...I come from Patch. An island off the coast of Vale," Ruby started to speak. The three people in front of her were looking at her with utmost attention, and she could swear that they were making notes in their heads, "Do the names Vacuo, Vale, Atlas and Mistral sound familiar to you...?"

From the blank looks on their faces, Ruby could tell that those names meant absolutely nothing to the people in front of her. Shen was the first one to respond, clearing his throat before saying, "I assume that the four names that you have said are...continents? Considering that you have said that this Patch is an island off the coast of Vale,"

Noting that the girl nodded her head vigorously after, Shen pressed his fingers to his forehead, massaging his temples slowly. "I think this might need more than a few cups of coffee to get through. Maybe even a few cookies to keep us going. Let's find a place where we can all sit down,"

It only took a second for Ruby to agree wholeheartedly to the offer of free cookies. After all, her stomach felt as though she hadn't eaten anything for _years_!

* * *

"So, let us reiterate over what you've said," Doctor Shen spoke, cautiously eyeing the tower of small platters piling up beside the reddish-black haired girl on the other side of the meeting table. Who knew that such a petite girl could devour so many sugary treats? "You've come from a world called Remnant, which has had some kind of...creature infestation problem. Creatures that you called 'Grimm', which come in various forms, all of which are hostile to humans. And 'faunus', too; which you said the young lady with feline ears – Blake, if I remember correctly – was one. You, and your friends, have been trained to combat these creatures from a young age, in preparation for a lifetime of hunting them down and protecting the general population from the threat of these Grimm. Does that summarise everything?"

"Mmmph-hmm!" Ruby mumbled through a mouthful of cookies. Swallowing, she coughed before saying, "Sorry. I was going to say, yep, that's right!"

"And you were in a night-time field exercise with the rest of your team when you suddenly saw a bright green flash of light. And the next thing that you remember was partly waking up on my autopsy table when I was attempting to stabilise your vitals," Vahlen added, checking her notes, "And now we are here, in the present. I must say, Miss Rose-"

"Ruby,"

"Ruby is it? Well, as I was saying, Ruby, I must say that it is disappointing that what you have said does not give us any further information on the alien threat. But it is very interesting to discover that somewhere in space, there is convergent evolution of this level. Though, I must say, I am disturbed by the fact that for some reason, your...'Remnant Common'...is more or less the same as modern English,"

Bradford groaned and slapped a hand to his forehead. "Don't even get me started on that one, Doctor, because it'll give me headaches for days. I'm still trying to wrap my head around all of this. I'll just take it as a gift that we don't have to make some sort of translation book for our guests. Still, that brings us to another problem,"

Bradford fixed Ruby with a disapproving glare. "XCOM is an organisation dedicated to the defence of Earth from the threat of alien invasion. We are the first, last and only line of defence that Earth has, and we operate behind the scenes to avoid any panic from spreading throughout the world. This is a restricted military compound which is known to nobody except those that need to know about it, and you're standing right in it. As much as I'd like to let you and your friends roam free, you have already seen too much of what we do, and what we are,"

Ruby gulped, glancing worriedly at Vahlen and Shen. Vahlen wore a mask of complete indifference, while Shen appeared to be sympathetic to her. What was he thinking of doing to her?

"So here are the options," Bradford continued, taking a deep breath, "You can stay in the prison cells beneath the compound until this war with the aliens is over, and we are no longer required. You would be safe from the aliens, and we will provide for your basic needs for the whole duration of your stay-"

"If the aliens are attacking, then that means people are in danger, aren't they?" Ruby asked, interrupting the officer, who nodded stiffly, obviously not used to being interrupted.

"That's right," Bradford answered.

"Well, that's settled then!" Ruby replied brightly, "I'll help you out! Aliens, Grimm, what's the big difference if they're hurting people?"

It was Vahlen that spoke next, with a deep frown on her face. "While your enthusiasm is...admirable, we cannot simply allow anyone to enter the battlefield without training-"

"But I...we've all trained to be huntresses!"

"-not to mention that your abilities, if they are true, represent completely unknown variables in any environment!" Vahlen continued, raising her voice over Ruby's, "Which may or may not be to our advantage,"

"Doctor, you can't be serious. You're thinking of letting a girl under the age of majority join a paramilitary organisation?" shouted a wide-eyed Bradford, ignoring Ruby's protests that she was seventeen and thus of age by Remnant standards.

"When have I not been serious, Bradford?"

Silence fell upon the room. Shen looked apologetically at Ruby, to which the girl smiled in appreciation. Vahlen and Bradford glared at each other with barely veiled distaste. Specialist Vargas looked shaken, and was inching ever closer to the exit door of the laboratory, likely wishing that she could be anywhere else in the Anthill except for this particular room.

"We have far too few operatives as it is. Those aliens are hitting us harder than we can recover, and our most experienced soldiers are currently all bedridden in that infirmary after that disastrous mission in Japan. As much as I wish my scientific work could assist them more, the reality is that we simply need more personnel," Vahlen spoke flatly, " _Experienced_ personnel are always a bonus. And if what Ruby has related to us is true, then she and her team likely have more combat experience than the rookies that we are able to recruit. I would suggest at least observing what she has to offer, before you pass your judgement,"

"As much as I would like to disagree, her assessment is sound, Bradford. Difficult as it is to believe, perhaps we should allow her to show us what she can do, before we say anything more,"

Bradford opened his mouth as if to argue back, though he closed it and sighed in defeat. "You two are right. We do have too few personnel as it is, and we're getting pushed back on all continents. I can't turn down a single able-bodied volunteer, let alone four,"

"That's if her friends agree to help us,"

"I'm sure they'll agree, once I talk to them. Now, can I have Crescent Rose back? Please?"

"Crescent Rose?" queried Vahlen, "What is that?"

"It's my gun. If...if you found it, that is," Ruby muttered, dearly hoping that these people didn't lose her weapon.

"Hmm. Perhaps it is best that you find it for yourself. Doctor Shen, I believe that you have moved all the salvaged equipment from the crashed ship into my laboratory, correct? If so, then let us head there and see if Ruby can find her weapon,"

"And do not even think about drawing a weapon outside of the firing range in this base, young lady," added Shen, giving her an encouraging smile and nod.

* * *

A short trip back down into Vahlen's personal lab, and the young huntress found herself looking into crates upon crates of salvaged equipment. Most were filled with some strange, hard metals, though others were filled with yellow crystals humming with power. There were occasionally heart-shaped things that contained a violently roiling green gas, which Shen said were plasma grenades; and one crate in particular made her eyes glow with excitement, as it was filled to the brim with guns of various shapes and sizes.

After about an hour of searching, only one crate remained, sitting on top of Vahlen's workbench. Ruby held her tongue between her teeth, hoping that the long and flat crate contained her weapon. When the latch fell apart and the lid sprang open, she squealed with joy at the sight of her one and only Crimson Rose.

"Sweetheart!" she said happily, picking up the folded-up weapon and hugging it tightly, "Oh, thank Dust you're still with me,"

"That's...Crimson Rose?" Shen asked, curiously eyeing the red weapon in her arms. It looked innocuous in its folded state, perhaps no larger than a compact assault rifle without a stock. For the life of him, he could not see a trigger or a handle anywhere on the weapon. That was, until the weapon's stock slid backward to reveal a trigger and a magazine, and a scope appeared on top of its body. As quickly as it had unfolded, the weapon collapsed back into its most compact form.

Ruby beamed at him as she clipped it onto her belt. "Yep! This is it. And by the looks of it, there's everyone else's weapons, too. Wait...if our weapons are here...where's the rest of our gear?"

"I am sorry to say that all that there is nothing else that we found on that ship. There were a few canisters of some unknown volatile compounds that we had found, but those are currently in secure storage in the armoury for safety reasons,"

"Very much so. I believe Specialist Kuznetsova had to be treated for third-degree burns after dropping a canister full of red dust and causing it to detonate. Quite intriguing, but I would have wished to analyse that in a more...controlled setting," Vahlen said, shaking her head.

Before anyone else could speak, however, the radio on Bradford's crackled to life. "Uh, Central? This is Night Owl. We've got a situation brewing in the brig. You're not going to believe what I'm seeing on the surveillance cameras," a scratchy male voice spoke through the radio, "I think it's one of the four that you brought in. The blonde one's trying to punch down the door to her cell, and it seems to be working,"

"Copy that, Night Owl. Keep an eye on it and let me know if things get too violent," Bradford muttered back into the radio, glaring daggers at a sheepish Ruby, "We'll be heading down there, on the double. Over,"

Switching off the radio, the officer turned to Ruby. "Well, young lady, it looks it's time for you to talk some sense into your friends,"

* * *

A/N

Dr. Shen is 9001% more friendly than Dr. Vahlen. Totally have no objections giving my troops over for MEC conversion, if he's like that! Gene modding by Vahlen, however...

Ruby is incredibly innocent and naive, but is very much refreshing to write after taking the viewpoint of jaded, hardened characters so many times. SO. MANY. TIMES. Makes you almost wish for a nuclear winter. Or a nuclear summer. Or perhaps a strawberry torte for a summer day. Everybody likes strawberry torte. Except cats in bags. But who puts cats in bags anyway? -touched by Sheogorath-

Next: One does not simply cage an angry bear with paper walls!


	3. 03 - Impasse and Compromise

Ruby could hear the furious groaning and creaking of metal being beaten out of shape even before the elevator had reached the prison level of the base. She could only guess as to just _how_ angry Yang was at being confined; and the only thing that made her already strong older sister stronger was a less-than-healthy dose of rage. For once, she was glad that Ember Celica was safely stored someplace else and not on her sister's person.

"I hope that Yang hasn't done too much damage," she muttered, shooting a fuming Bradford an apologetic glance, "Sorry! My sister's a bit of a hothead,"

"Well, for your sake, I do hope that she has not torn down the entire prison cell block yet. We do need those on occasion," grumbled Shen, "That, and we really cannot afford to have our engineers fix something that does not need to be fixed,"

When the elevator finally stopped and opened, Ruby winced when she saw the damage that Yang had done on the cell block. The reinforced metal door was all but torn off its hinges, with only a sorry-looking scrap of metal barely holding it up. That is, if you could even call the warped grid of bars a door any more. Or if you could even call the cell a cell any more, with half the concrete wall smashed away on the edge of the door frame.

The blonde girl, now clothed in the same baggy garments as Ruby, was still clinging onto what was left of the door, gritting her teeth as she finally tore it off its hinges. "Yang, stop this!" Ruby cried out, causing her to drop the now-scrapped door in her hands.

"Rubes! What's going on? Where are we?" Yang said, panting. A few guns clicked behind Ruby, trained on Yang, and the blonde girl's eyes widened. "What the...?"

"Hands in the air, where we can see them!" shouted Specialist Vargas, her rifle raised and trained on Yang.

"Yang, please. Do as she says,"

"Why the hell should I? If she wants a fight, I'll give her a fight!"

"I really don't want to do this," Vargas warned, clicking off the safety on her rifle, "But security comes first. Last chance. Hands in the air, or I'll shoot,"

Seeing that Yang had only dropped down into a combat stance, Ruby sighed and sprinted forward with the aid of her semblance, tackling her with enough speed to launch both of them all the way down the hallway and into the wall on the far side, cracking the concrete with the force of the impact. Had she looked back at Vahlen and Shen, she might have noticed their stunned expressions – and in the case of Vahlen, curiously picking up a few rose petals from the floor.

"Rubes! What the hell?" coughed Yang, pushing Ruby off her, "What was that for?"

"Well, you weren't about to do as she says," Ruby said, panting heavily, standing up. "They aren't bad guys, you know. They pulled us out of an alien ship and brought us back to their base,"

"Aliens?" Yang scoffed, rolling her eyes, "You've been reading too much of Blake's comics, haven't you?

"As strange as it sounds, she is telling the truth, Miss Yang," Shen said, approaching the two girls, "And as much as I can appreciate that you desire freedom, we would prefer that our property not be destroyed. Please refrain from destroying our holding cells in the future,"

"You guys locked me up in there!"

"A necessary precaution. And given your apparent predisposition to violence, a wise choice," spoke Doctor Vahlen, shaking her head disapprovingly, "Your...sister here seems to be more agreeable in disposition. Though given your wildly different appearances, I am truly having a hard time seeing the family resemblance,"

"Why, you- gah! Rubes, let – me – go!" Yang shouted, trying to shake Ruby off her arm with all her might.

"I must apologise for my colleague's...abrasive manners," Shen groaned, shooting Vahlen a glare, "But please, do calm down. There is no need for violence here,"

"Hmph! Fine, just...where is this place, anyway?"

"I am not at liberty to say the exact location of this facility, however you may know this as the XCOM Headquarters,"

"XCOM Headquarters?"

"That's right," Ruby added, "XCOM's apparently the first, last and only line of defence on Earth against an alien invasion. They're here to protect people!"

"So you're telling me that...wait, what's Earth? Isn't that just dirt?"

"Earth is the name of our planet, Miss Yang, just as your own is apparently called Remnant," Shen informed her, "And yes, you would be correct that earth is also another term that could be used for...dirt, but in this case we are referring to our planet,"

"You're joking, right?" chuckled Yang weakly, "This isn't Atlas? Or Beacon?

Ruby shook her head sadly. "No, Yang, this isn't Atlas. We're definitely not even on Remnant any more,"

Sighing, Yang put a hand against her head. This was too much for her to think about, and too early after waking up. "Y'know, you really know how to make things hard for me sometimes, Rubes," she grumbled, "I think I need a coffee before I can even try to think about this. But hey, on the bright side, look; you made new friends!"

"I hardly think that they could be considered her 'friends' yet, you dolt. Just look at that female scientist's expression when you mentioned that,"

"...While this is interesting enough to watch, I'd like to have something to read,"

"Weiss! Blake!" Ruby said brightly, "You're here!"

The Schnee heiress had been placed in the last cell in the room, with Blake being kept in the cell next to it. Weiss wore a look of utter disgust as she continued to pick away at bits of lint on her turtleneck, muttering something about cheap clothing and improper care of clothing. Her baggy pants were far too large, flapping about with every little movement. It was almost comical to Ruby; how the almost always impeccably dressed Weiss now appeared so shabbily dressed and flustered by her lack of elegance.

"Of course I'm here. You can see for yourself, can't you?" she said through gritted teeth, "And to think that I would be kept in a prison! Why are we here, anyway? We were supposed to be hunting Grimm in Forever Fall!"

"And I'm sure that we all knew what happened right before we woke up here," Blake added evenly, "I'm sure you were all blinded by a flash of green light, and suddenly, here we are, without the smallest bit of clothing on us, and a bag full of completely oversized clothes on our beds,"

"I did not ask for your opinion, Blake!"

"Fine. Just let me know when you're ready to listen to others, Weiss," Blake replied, shrugging, "I wonder what happened to Gambol Shroud,"

"Gambol Shroud? Wait..." Weiss mumbled, arching an eyebrow. Her eyes widened when she patted her side and realised that there was something missing. Something _very_ important. "Myrtenaster! It's not with me!"

"Take a look at Ruby," said Blake, rolling her eyes, "She's still got her weapon. Why don't you just ask her about where she got it back?"

A loud cough interrupted all of them. "I believe," Shen spoke calmly, his arms crossed behind his back, "I can answer that question. But first, I would ask that you remain civil. Ruby has assured me that she will assist XCOM with our mission, and thus she has been granted permission to receive her weapon for the time being,"

"Wait, wait. You can't just take our stuff away from us, old man!" Yang retorted, huffing loudly, "They're not even yours to start with!"

"Personal property means exactly that!"

"Well, while you are guests of the XCOM initiative and not one of our soldiers, you are not entitled to bear weapons inside this base. This is a restricted military facility, where security is of utmost importance. I do trust that you understand what that means," Bradford growled, "It means that while you are here, you abide by our rules, down to the letter. We have wasted too much time as it is in pointless arguing. Our planet is under siege by aliens, cities are getting invaded with thousands of deaths every week-"

"Thousands of deaths?" Weiss repeated, aghast. That was an enormous number of people!

"Yes, _thousands_ of casualties, miss. So you will understand when I say that we simply do not have any time to waste arguing about petty matters while there are still entire cities and nations under threat of annihilation or subjugation. You will comply with us, or you will stand out of our way. It's your call, and I hope that you make the right decision,"

And with that, Bradford stormed out of the corridor and back towards the elevator. Shen and Vahlen stared as he left, before looking at each other, dumbfounded. The huntresses remained silent, still wondering about just what exactly did they land themselves in. Except for Ruby, who slumped to her knees,

"So, shall we discuss this matter in a more...civil manner? In a more appropriate location, of course?" Shen spoke out first, breaking the silence.

* * *

With Bradford returning to his duties and Vahlen excusing herself to continue an autopsy, it fell to Doctor Shen to watch over the newly-reunited Team RWBY in his workshop. If there was one thing that he now realised about Ruby, it was that her fondness for large amounts of sugary, chocolatey cookies was only surpassed by her almost unhealthy obsession with weapons.

And his workshop – next to the Anthill's armoury – had a _very_ good view of weapons. Hundreds upon hundreds of guns of all sizes and configurations; grenades and rockets, flamethrowers and lasers, missiles and autocannons. There were even a few gigantic robotic fists with what appeared to be rocket modules attached to their backs. So many weapons that Ruby could hardly keep her eyes off the armoury without a rather disturbing amount of drool trickling from her mouth. It did not help either that he had set up a tea table next to a window overlooking the armoury's weapon racks, well-stocked with chocolate cookies.

"I do hope that you like tea, Weiss...Miss Schnee, wasn't it? Miss Xiao Long, and Miss Belladonna? And of course, Ruby?" Shen spoke, offering each of them a cupful of tea that was almost black. Tentatively, the huntresses-in-training accepted the drinks. After a single sip, all four of them suddenly reached for the bowl full of sugar in the middle of the table, coughing profusely. Shen smiled at their response. It was exactly the same as with every other operative that he had invited to share a cup of tea. Apparently, his preferred brew was far too bitter without copious amounts of sugar.

"That...was definitely not tea," Weiss choked out, "Coffee would have been a better approximation of this...drink,"

"I assure you, Miss Schnee, that was tea and not coffee. My preferred brew is a little strong, but it does keep you awake. Now, on to business matters, then. Before I continue, I must ask you to keep all that you are about to hear a secret outside of XCOM,"

"Yeah, we got that from Grumpy back in the prison cells. Restricted military facility, keep everything under wraps," Yang said sarcastically.

"I suppose that would be a fair assessment of Central Officer Bradford, given what you have seen of him," chuckled Shen, "But I do ask that you forgive him for his brashness. The last few weeks have not been easy for him or his men, to say the least,"

"Well, excuse _me_ for apparently being asleep for the past I-don't-know-how long!" huffed the blonde.

"Perhaps it is best that we listen to Doctor Shen first about this world's events before we speak any further," Blake said, shifting in discomfort as she adjusted the beret on her head. She made a mental note to ask for a black ribbon at the next convenient time. Hats and feline Faunus ears do _not_ go well together, even if the hat did stretch a little bit to make room for them.

"Very well. I suppose it is suitable that we start from the beginning, as you are likely not aware of what XCOM is, what it stands for, or why it even exists. The XCOM initiative has been founded six months ago after the first alien abductions in the United States of America. With the general public still unaware of the alien threat hanging over our planet, we were founded to combat the impending invasion from the shadows. Hundreds of millions of dollars, dozens of highly-skilled personnel, and state-of-the-art equipment gathered in one place, for one purpose. The defence of humanity, of planet Earth, at all costs,"

Shen spoke with such passion that the four huntresses could not help but sit in rapt attention. Even Ruby had stopped demolishing the bowl of cookies in front of her, now content to chew on the single one in her hands as she listened.

"Persons from every continent; Africa, Asia, Europe and North and South America, come together to defend our planet. Technology, the best that Earth can offer, provided to assist them in their noble goal. And so far, we have held our line. Without us, the aliens would have destroyed Earth's governments within weeks. We are Earth's first, last and only line of defence against a threat that threatens to destroy everything we know and love,"

Blake remarked, "That sounds very similar to the goal of the Hunters and Huntresses on Remnant,"

"As much as Ruby has informed me of what Hunters and Huntresses do, yes, I suppose there are notable similarities," Shen said, smiling, "Defending those that can't defend themselves is an admirable goal, and apparently one that transcends most cultural boundaries. Now that you know what we stand for, I'd like you to know that we...haven't been in the best shape for the past month,"

"With the funding of an entire planet, the resources of every nation, I find that difficult to believe, Doctor Shen," Weiss said, frowning. If the Schnee Dust Company could wipe away almost every problem by throwing lien at the source of the problem, then how did this group still fail to deal with the supposed alien threat, with funding that likely dwarfed even her own family's fortune?

"I suppose it would be to some. And our benefactors also seem to think the same way," sighed the doctor, standing up and walking to the window overlooking the armoury, "We have weapons more advanced than any military in the world. Equipment that can stand a reasonable chance against the aliens. And enough funding to turn less developed nations green with envy. But I will ask you, Miss Schnee; if we are well equipped, well funded and well armed, what else does a fighting force need to function?"

Silence. Weiss racked her mind for an answer. Atlas was certainly well-funded, in no small part due to the contributions of her family's company. Its military was enormous, the largest of all of Remnant. There were enough troopers in Atlas to patrol its streets, and probably the streets of all cities in Vale, and still have enough troops left in storage to deploy on an emergency. And from what she had heard from her sister, there was the new model of Atlesian Knight about to enter mass production.

Mass production.

Her jaw fell as she realised the answer. Atlas _never_ had this problem as they relied mostly on automated units; and even then, war was an extremely rare event on Remnant, and thus the Atlesian military had never truly had any appreciable amount of attrition.

"Manpower," answered the silver-haired girl, to which Shen nodded.

"You are perceptive. Precisely, Miss Schnee. Manpower. The aliens' attacks have been increasing in frequency and severity, leaving our veteran squads far too exhausted or gravely wounded. The recent recruits that we have obtained are far from well-trained, and certainly lack the enthusiasm that Ruby has displayed thus far,"

"So...are you saying that you'd like us to join this...XCOM?"

"It is entirely up to you, of course. Every person on this base has joined the XCOM initiative of their own free will, believing wholly in our cause. Those who do not, or have changed their mind, are free to return to their country of origin, provided that they maintain secrecy. However, as you are not a resident of any nation on Earth, it would be rather difficult to repatriate you to your home,"

And there it was. The biggest question of them all. If the aliens had abducted them, and taken them to Earth – how could they return to Remnant? The huntresses looked at each other with worry in their eyes as they all realised the implications of their presence on Earth.

It was going to be a long stay.

"So, there are two options that are available to us. The first is that you will be treated as guests of the XCOM initiative, and will be interned in our facility. You will not have to fight any of the aliens, and we will provide you with all the basic needs that you may have. You will be confined to your cells for the entire duration of your stay, for however long that may be,"

"Sounds awfully boring to me," Yang said.

"And the second is that you join the XCOM Initiative as operatives, and join our squads in their missions. I will not lie; every mission has the risk of injury up to and including death. You will, however, be permitted to visit every non-restricted area of the base and interact with the other operatives, as well as pursue your own interests in the time between missions. And of course, your belongings would be restored to you at the earliest available time,"

"So, if I understood correctly, our two options are imprisonment...or recruitment?" Blake said, crossing her arms and giving a small smile.

"I would not go so far as calling it imprisonment, but yes, that is mostly correct,"

Looking at the rest of her team, Ruby raised her hand up. "Well, let's put this to a vote, team! If you want to help out these people in need, raise your hand!"

"Well, I'm always up to punch a few Grimm. Or aliens. Does it really matter? What they're doing is just wrong!" Yang said with a broad grin, pumping her fist in the air, "Of course I'm helping, duh!"

"I must admit that I feel that fighting these aliens won't be that different from fighting Grimm. And..." Blake said, eyeing the towering bookshelves in the corner of the workshop beside a desk, "...there may be some fine literature that I could read in my spare time,"

"I suppose that fieldwork does help to keep my techniques in practice," muttered Weiss, sighing in resignation, "If the rest of you insist on joining, then I'm coming along to make sure you don't do anything too...stupid,"

"Well, that settles it, then. I will inform Central Officer Bradford of your decision to join us. For now, I would suggest that you head down to the barracks to be assigned your new quarters. Specialist Vargas will take you down there; be sure to introduce yourselves to the rest of the troops when you get the chance. Welcome to XCOM," Shen said, beaming. "If you have any further concerns, simply come and see me when you are not on a mission,"

The barracks was underground, just as the rest of the base was; though given the narrow shaft of sunlight peeking through from the reinforced skylight just out of the central common room, it was likely fairly close to the surface. There were several smaller rooms branching out from the common room, where off-duty soldiers sat and relaxed, playing cards with others or quietly reading a book. In one corner, there were even two burly men comparing their strength with an arm wrestling competition, with several spectators egging them on rather enthusiastically.

"Well, here we are. The Den," Specialist Vargas said, nodding to a soldier on guard duty, "I remember that Papa Bear said that Strike Six currently has no members, so you're all free to take that room," she continued, pointing at a room to their right, "Should be empty, but if you guys need stuff cleared out, we can help,"

"Uh...Specialist Vargas?"

"Please, just call me Emily. Papa Bear would chew me out if I started treating our own folks as strangers out of missions. Ruby, isn't it?" the blonde woman said, offering her a small smile, "What's on your mind?"

"I was wondering about the clothes that we've been given, and the ones everyone else is wearing," spoke Ruby, pointing at the patch on Emily's shoulder. There was a pair of wings embroidered on a diamond on a black shoulder patch, with two dots below it. "Everyone looks like they have something different on there. What's that one mean?"

"What, the rank and class epaulette?" Emily replied, pointing at it, "It shows the specialisation and rank of the soldier wearing it. I'm a medic; that's the wings in the diamond. And I'm not really high up the ranks, either. I'm just a specialist, which is barely a step above rookie. I've only been here for about three weeks, after all,"

"Ooh. So you fix cuts and bruises?"

"Bruises? We'd probably just tell you to walk it off," she laughed. But her face grew serious as she continued with, "Cuts, yes. Bullet wounds? Definitely. But let's hope that it doesn't come to that. Because...when the aliens hit you with their guns, it's..."

For a moment, she froze, her eyes filled with fear and staring at a distant wall. The memories of her first mission came back to her mind. One of her teammates died, and his brains were on her splattered on her. One direct hit, punching straight through his head. It was her fault for not reacting fast enough, and she would've joined him, if it weren't for Stonewall blasting the berserker's head off.

"Emily?"

Shaking her head, she took a deep breath. She had to continue her duty, and that line of thinking didn't help. "I...It's nothing. Okay. Just...try not to get hit. We'd prefer to not patch anyone up, if we can help it," she muttered, forcing a crooked semblance of a smile back on her face. Ruby and the others were still too innocent to trouble with that just yet, the medic thought to herself.

"Hmm. If you say so," Ruby said, looking with interest at the other soldiers in the room. "So...if you fix cuts and bruises...then what do the other soldiers around here do?"

"I think it's probably best that Bradford tells you about them. Honestly, I don't really have a clue about what they can do on the battlefield. I haven't been around them on missions for long enough to know everything just yet," shrugged Emily, "Anyway, I think it's high time that you see what's in your room. Come with me, I'll get it unlocked,"

The room was little larger than the room that the four huntresses shared in Beacon, but there were six double bunk beds inside, along with two footlockers tucked neatly under each bed. The walls were plain and undecorated, though on one side, there was another footlocker that seemingly belonged to nobody in particular, with a photo on top of it.

"Ah...I guess that Strike Six's room didn't have everything removed," Emily said, walking up to the footlocker with the photo.

"Whose photo is that?"

"This..." the medic muttered, flipping it over and reading the scrawl on the reverse side, "This was Strike Six's. Before their last mission to Berlin, apparently. I don't know anything more than that, because that was before my time. But Papa Bear might know more,"

"Oh, okay. Can we meet Papa Bear sometime?"

"Not at this time. He's on a mission to an alien abduction site in Nigeria, if I remember correctly. Should be back in time for dinner. You might be able to catch him then, if he doesn't want to go straight to the showers and then to bed. Now, I've shown you your room, and obviously you haven't got any personal effects with you to put in there...showers are on the other side of the common room, one for girls and one for guys. You'll know if you get in the wrong one when you start getting pelted by soap bars and a lot of colourful language,"

"Hey, I don't mind!" Yang said in jest, eliciting a giggle from Emily.

"Yeah, I'm sure _you_ won't! That should be all that I need to show you here. You don't need to know about the power plants on the second floor, and I don't think that even remotely interests any of us anyway. Let the engineers do their work, and let us tear the aliens a new hole in their backsides. Satellite uplinks are off limits, and Vahlen's got the laboratories locked down for some reason today. That leaves mission control and the armoury. Which one do you girls want to visit first?"

"Armoury!" chorused Yang and Ruby, while the two other huntresses shook their heads in mild amusement.

"Alright, armoury it is. You've talked to Doctor Shen for some time now, so you know him well enough. I'll let him give you a tour of his own domain,"

* * *

Engineering, it seemed, had filled up with dozens of workers the moment that the four huntresses had left for the barracks. The cavernous room was now filled with sounds of various pieces of heavy machinery cutting, milling or stamping out various pieces of metal. Periodically, there would even be a gunshot or the staccato blasts of an autocannon whenever the gunsmiths nearest the proving grounds tested a freshly created weapon. A painting booth sprayed newly-minted pieces of armour with various camouflage colours and patterns, overseen by what looked like a robot on four wheels.

In one corner of the workshop, by a workbench, stood Doctor Shen, calmly sipping a cup of his coffee-like tea, while thumbing through a rather thick book. The group approached the engineer, cautiously weaving their way between moving cranes, forklifts and towering stacks of metal crates.

"So, what brings you back to engineering? Actually, ignore that question. I do believe that I know the reason for your visit," Shen spoke with a knowing smile, noticing Ruby's ecstatic expression when a trolley loaded with assault carbines rolled past, "I had Doctor Vahlen send your weapons here for maintenance. Fascinating designs and materials, on all of them,"

"Wait," Yang muttered, slightly annoyed, " _You_ were handling _our_ weapons?"

"Well, yes. As a matter of procedure, all of our operatives' weapons are built and maintained here," he said, holding up his hands, "Don't worry. I assure you that we take great care in ensuring that nothing is broken and everything is maintained to the highest standard. As is everything else that is manufactured in this room. If you would like to see them, they are right here,"

He pulled out a metal crate from behind the workbench and placed it gently on top. "Now, I must admit that I am not sure of who each weapon belongs to, so it falls to you to pick them out and give them to their rightful owners," he said, unsealing the crate and pushing the lid open. Yang immediately snatched out Ember Celica and held the shotgun gauntlets close to her, sighing in relief; Blake rolled her eyes disapprovingly and calmly retrieved her chain sickle-pistol, carefully drawing it and making sure that the Gambol Shroud's blade was still sharp. Weiss, however, frowned when she examined her rapier-revolver.

"I was fairly certain that Myrtenaster had a full set of Dust rounds when I was in the forest," Weiss muttered, frowning as she rolled the empty six-shot cylinder in its hilt, "There are no Dust canisters in here,"

"You will have to speak with Doctor Vahlen regarding ammunition, I'm afraid. She has taken a sample of them to her laboratory for examination, and the rest has been placed in cold storage after a canister of it exploded rather violently when it was dropped,"

"What? You had a Dust explosion?" Weiss exclaimed, nearly dropping Myrtenaster. Dust was volatile in almost any form or shape, and dropping powdered Dust was an almost certain way to cripple a limb or two. Especially when other containers of Dust are in close proximity.

"Yes. Specialist Kusnetzova dropped a box of it, prompting a rather...violent explosion. I believe that she is currently being treated for third degree burns in the infirmary. From your reaction, Miss Schnee, you appear to be more than familiar with the properties of this strange, volatile substance that we have found,"

She nodded quickly. "My family's company is the single largest producer of Dust and Dust-based munitions on all of Remnant. We produce almost everything Dust-based, from munitions to propellants of all types. I am certainly familiar with its proper care and handling,"

"If that is the case, Miss Schnee, then I would assume that Doctor Vahlen would have a great deal to discuss with you regarding this Dust...and potentially a few other things, as well. That can wait for a future date, when your schedules are not quite so busy. For now, however, Central Officer Bradford has left me a notice that you are all to be fitted properly for basic suits of armour,"

"Armour? Why would we need armour?" Yang scoffed, "We've got our Aura to take our hits!"

Shen shot an incredulous stare at Yang. He would have to ask about what 'aura' was at a later point, preferably with Vahlen around. Was it some kind of personal energy shield? "Maybe in Remnant the idea of sending unarmoured young adults to fight dangerous creatures is acceptable, but in XCOM, we insist that every operative be provided with an adequate level of protection. The lives of men and women are precious, and those who are working with us doubly so. There will not be any negotiations on this rule, Miss Xiao Long. We will not permit you to join any operations without at least a minimum level of protection and training,"

"Ugh, fine! Let's get this over with, then,"

"Excellent. Follow me, please; I will try to keep this as brief as I can, so that we can continue onto the next part of your induction into XCOM,"

"And what might that be, dare I ask?" Blake spoke excitedly, half-guessing that it involved plenty of firepower.

"Familiarisation with all of our weapons and equipment. One cannot properly fight a war without knowing how to wield weapons, of course,"

And in that moment, Shen would finally realise that the blast doors leading into the armoury were never truly a waste of resources and time. Especially with Ruby bouncing up and down with excitement at the prospect of testing some new weapons, and her sister looking as though she was ready to tear down the doors of the armoury to get at some hardware as well.

* * *

A/N

Cookies. Guns. More guns. And probably enough guns to outfit an army and then some. What more does Ruby need to stay happy? Not much else, probably! Well, unless Shen could come up with an automatic cookie dispenser in her barracks room.

Bradford might seem a little like a total ass in this chapter, but in this scenario it's probably warranted. Everyone who's played XCOM has likely run into a situation where you've lost an entire squad of veterans, your B-team is also on the fritz thanks to lucky graze hits or fatigue, and even your C-team got their backsides whipped by an unexpected multiple-pod trip. You're then left with your completely green squad of rookies and possibly one or two veterans, and obviously the rookies get mulched by those angry mutons, sectopods and chryssalids. Now throw in Ironman, where you can't savescum to fix your fate, and throw yourselves in Bradford's shoes. Who wouldn't be more than a little uptight? Poor bastard probably hasn't slept for ages.

MeleeSmasher:

Yep, turning Crescent Rose into its scythe form might have drawn a few hilarious responses from Bradford and co, but that might also prompt Ruby to get shot to bits by the personnel on duty. After all, not drawing a weapon implies that guns remain unloaded and not lifted up - but you can't say the same for a melee weapon. If it's out, it's out :P

IndecisiveBob:

Yup. They assumed that the rest of the girls are still asleep for a few more hours until the anaesthetic wears off from what Vahlen did to them, and thus no additional guards were warranted. Big. Fat. Mistake.

All:

Thanks for reading this so far! I hope you enjoyed it, and if you have any feedback, feel free to shoot me a PM or review. 95% chance to hit, no fixed seed RNG. Savescum all you like!

Next: Meeting 'Papa Bear', second guessing the leadership, and determining who's the bigger Ice Queen in the Anthill between the two now present!

A/N 2:

theBSDude:

Well spotted, and now corrected!


	4. 04 - Preparations

"Wow. Why can't we have one of these in Beacon?" Ruby gasped, staring in awe at what was inside the XCOM armoury.

The window in Shen's workshop had only shown them a small portion of the armoury. In the back of the room, there was an entire firing range, stretching on for as far as the eye could see. The racks of weapons that they had seen before, it seemed, were only the ones prepared for use. Dozens of packed weapon crates were stored inside, neatly stacked up all the way to the ceiling high above, their contents marked on glowing green labels.

There were also several large pods on the side of the room next to the entry doors, inside which some large, bulky tracked robots sat, their turrets bowed in their inactive state. Some seemed to have large autocannons mounted, while others bore multiple-barreled rocket launchers and machineguns. One in particular caught Ruby's eye; a pure white one, hovering in place seemingly without any form of rocket engine. And on top of it was a two-pronged silver rod attached to oversized power cells, with menacing bolts of acid green lightning arcing between the metal prongs.

As Ruby leaned over to look closer at the strange machine, it suddenly shook to life. The green lightning intensified into a column of blinding light, only barely contained by a faintly shimmering force field between the prongs.

"Warning. Unidentified personnel detected. Present identification, or be destroyed," the machine droned, in a harsh mechanical voice. A bright red dot was painted on Ruby's forehead, courtesy of the laser pointer on the underside of its weapon. "You have five seconds to comply,"

"Uh...a-anyone, help? Please?" stammered Ruby.

"SHIV unit Omega-Four, override code purple-six-nine-six-five-alpha!" Shen hurriedly shouted out.

"Voice pattern recognised. Welcome, Dr. Shen. Override code...recognised. Weapon systems, powering down. This unit suggests exercising caution around unknown variables. Awaiting new orders," the machine all but grumbled. The green lightning arcing between the prongs of its weapon dissipated harmlessly into the air, though the laser pointer was still trained squarely on the red-haired huntress' head.

Shen sighed in relief, bowing his head to the mortified girl. "I apologise for Omega-Four's...rudeness. We have been attempting to introduce some self-aware programming into our SHIV platforms to increase their combat capabilities, but there have been complications, as you can see. It turns out that despite our best efforts, they have turned out more aggressive than desired. Omega-Four, power down in your docking station,"

"Yeah, no kidding! That...thing...almost shot her!" Yang said, putting a hand on Ruby's shoulder and squeezing gently. "You alright, Rubes?"

Shakily, Ruby nodded, shuffling away from the rather hostile machine. "I'm fine. Thanks, Yang...Dr. Shen. I...that was scary,"

"That was an interesting device," Blake said, her eyes curiously following the 'SHIV unit' as it levitated itself back into its pod, tucking its gun turret in like a bird would when it sleeps. "What is a 'SHIV unit', if I might ask?"

"Ah. It is a super-heavy infantry vehicle. Originally, they were intended to be substitutes for XCOM operatives, should one of them be unavailable due to injuries or fatigue. It turned out to be less than satisfactory, at first,"

"Less than satisfactory?"

"Let's just say that treads do not navigate rough terrain very well. That, and their accuracy against targets left much to be desired. Now, I was certain that Lieutenant Hardcase was scheduled to be here to assist me with your armour fittings..."

A hulking form shifted near the firing range, slowly rising to tower over the nearby firing booths. Weiss gasped when she saw that its silhouette strongly resembled a miniature Atlesian Paladin; including the bulky, thickly-plated legs and arms, and even the off-white paint covering the entirety of its plating. The entire room shook with every thunderous step it took as it approached the group, betraying its immense weight. But as a light shone on where its head should be, the Schnee heiress realised that this was no mere machine.

There was a female human head where she assumed there would be a cockpit or sensor array, with her reddish-blonde hair tied in a messy bun. Though her face remained impassive, there was no mistaking the gleam of intelligence behind her natural eyes for that of a machine. This was a human, integrated into a mechanical shell!

"Officer Bradford informed me that my presence was required in the armoury, Dr. Shen. How may I assist you today?" the woman spoke, with a strangely flat and mechanical tone.

"Hello, lieutenant. I trust that you are keeping well?"

"My biological needs are satisfied, and my servomechanisms are all fully functional. I am ready to serve at optimal levels,"

"Excellent. Should any of your limbs need maintenance, you know where to find me," replied Shen, ignoring the confused expressions on all of the young huntresses' faces, "I did indeed request your presence here, however. These fine young women behind me have volunteered to join XCOM, and need to be fitted for some Carapace Armour,"

Hardcase shifted her legs so that she could face the huntresses and waved enthusiastically – albeit a little stiffly, due to the bulk of her armour. Uncertainly, Ruby and Yang waved back, followed by a reluctant Blake. Weiss, however, crossed her arms and frowned.

"I've seen a few Atlesian Knight models, but I haven't seen anything so human-like, despite all the advances in Atlesian technology. Yet Dr. Shen claims that he still couldn't make fully functioning artificial intelligences. What are you?" asked the white-haired girl imperiously, as if she were addressing a mere machine.

"Weiss!" Ruby gasped, scandalised by her friend's blunt question.

If Hardcase had taken offence at the way Weiss had delivered her question, there was no sign of it in either her reply or her emotionless face. "I am MEC trooper Elizabeth Carson. Lieutenant of the XCOM initiative, Shogun-class. If you are referring to my current chassis, it is the most suitable MEC suit available for heavy lifting that is not currently being repaired or is otherwise under maintenance. In the event that you are referring to whether or not I am human, you may rest assured that I was _once_ entirely biological,"

"What do you mean by 'once entirely biological'?" asked Blake curiously. Elizabeth stared at her for a few seconds, as if to determine whether the faunus was joking or not, before simply grabbing her own left arm and detaching it with a simple twist and a sharp tug.

"MEC troopers are human soldiers that volunteered for cybernetic augmentations," Dr. Shen said quietly. There was a faint sheen to his downcast eyes as he spoke, almost as though he was holding back tears. "The surgical removal of all four limbs, followed by the implantation of neural interfaces on the stubs that remain. It is a steep price to pay for greatly enhanced strength and durability. There is...no way back. It is a permanent procedure, and yet every MEC trooper that has undergone the procedure has done so voluntarily,"

The huntresses fell silent as they processed what had been said. Their expressions shifted from amazement, to shock – and finally, to outrage. The idea that someone would sacrifice so much for so little was almost unthinkable to them.

"Why? Why would you do this to yourself?" shouted Yang, gesticulating wildly. "Actually, why would you even do this to _anyone_?"

"Dr. Shen is one of the most caring and respectable engineers that I have had the pleasure of knowing," Elizabeth spoke, the loud snap-hiss of the cybernetic limb reattaching itself to her almost drowning out her words. There was an unmistakable fire in her eyes as she glared angrily at Yang, "I had lost an arm to an alien grenade, and he has given me a way to be of use to the other soldiers on this base. While you may think it barbaric to merge man and machine, it offers the maimed a second chance to fight the alien invaders. I demand that you retract your words,"

The blonde huntress clenched her fists in a challenge. "Or what?"

"Rookie Xiao Long! Lieutenant Carson! That is enough. While I know that you are thankful for what I've done, it is not as readily accepted by many others. Let it go for now. And Yang, please try not to pick fights with your own allies. We are short of able personnel as it is without injuring each other,"

"As you wish, Dr. Shen," replied the MEC trooper promptly before Yang could offer another remark, though her icy glare spoke only of unfinished business. "You said that you wished for these recruits to be fitted for their armour. Carapace Armour, if I remember correctly?"

"That's correct. Could you please prepare the scanner so that we can have their sizes correctly assessed?"

"Affirmative. One second," she said, walking up to the shelves of armour and returning with what looked much like a large hoop with a faint grid of red light pulsing in its centre.

"Alright. Hold your arms loose at your sides. Legs a shoulder width apart," Shen said, guiding the hoop over Ruby's head while Elizabeth held it steady. "Keep your eyes shut when we lower this, and don't open your eyes until we say so,"

After scanning all four of the girls, Shen dismissed Elizabeth, giving her a USB stick containing the measurements for the armour to be made. "It will be about five days before the armour will be ready. Until then, I should think that you would all be put through basic training," he said.

"Five days? What takes so long to make those things?"

"Each suit of armour is custom made to fit each of our operatives. This decision was made so that everyone can react and move as fast as they possibly can, which improves the life expectancy of our rookies significantly,"

"Makes sense, I suppose. Still, five days before we can start tearing up some aliens? I'm already getting bored just from hearing that!" Yang whined.

"If you need something to do, I'm sure that either Doctor Vahlen or I could use some help somewhere in the base. There's always things that need to be done, and nowhere near enough personnel to do it. Now, let us proceed to the next part; weapons. I am certain that at least one of you has been looking forward to firing some weapons. Well, Ruby? Are you still with us?"

Ruby nearly jumped when Dr. Shen raised his voice, lifting her hand from the minigun that she had been lovingly petting for the last ten minutes. "Yes! Yes, I am!" she squealed, scampering over to the engineer.

Dr. Shen had to actively resist running his fingers through the hyper-enthusiastic girl's hair like he would to his own daughter. Both of them had a penchant for military technology, though his daughter seemed to have more of an electronic bent than a decidedly unhealthy interest for high-calibre weaponry. Perhaps, he thought to himself, the two of them would be great friends if they would ever meet.

Leading the team to the firing range, he motioned for the team to sit down. There were several weapons on the bench behind the individual booths; one for each subtype of weapons that XCOM operatives fielded on the battlefield.

"So, I'm well aware that you have your own weapons. However, XCOM standard training requires that every recruit be at least familiar with every weapon that we have in our armoury-"

"Does that include the...cannons?" Yang piped up excitedly.

"No. That does not include the cannons. Those are designed for MEC troopers, and would at least shatter every bone in an unaugmented user's arm," Shen said firmly, "That, and the waste heat would likely be sufficient to cause third degree burns to the user's arm,"

He picked up a laser rifle from the bench and flipped off the safety. Immediately, the rifle sprang to life with a hum, an intense red glow shining brightly inside its condensation chamber. "This is the standard weapon that most XCOM operatives use. Rugged, accurate and reliable, our modular beam rifle still has enough power to punch through most, if not all, aliens that we have encountered so far. One elerium power cell provides enough energy to fire off four full-power shots. Yes, Ruby?"

The excitable team leader put her hand down and asked, "How powerful is it?"

"It is likely better to demonstrate it. Observe the concrete block at the end of the firing range,"

Taking careful aim, the doctor fired a bolt of red light from the weapon, shattering the top of the concrete block and reducing it to a cloud of fine dust. The larger chunks left behind glowed a bright orange from the intense heat of the laser beam.

"It is capable of destroying light to moderate cover with little difficulty, but I highly doubt that attempting to hit a target through cover would do much damage, if any. If you need additional firepower or mobility, we can also provide you with a shortened, reduced-weight version of it, or one with improved optics and capacitors for greater damage and precision. Yes, Ruby?"

"Is there a sniper rifle version of this? Sorry if I'm asking a lot, it's just that...THIS IS TOO AWESOME!" she gushed, "A beam rifle? Tell me this isn't a dream! Please!"

"I can assure you that you are not dreaming, and yes, there is indeed a high-precision version of this rifle. Which is what I intend to demonstrate next,"

He then lifted a large, long rifle, with a very large scope prominently on display on top of its sleek frame. The power cell was much larger than that of the standard beam rifle; and when the entire room was quiet, one could almost hear the humming of the heavy capacitors powering the weapon. Weiss cupped her face with one hand in embarrassment when she saw the copious amounts of drool dripping from Ruby's mouth. It was one thing to see a teammate do this in private, over food; and another when facing a superior when on duty.

"Now, I must admit that our firing range leaves much to be desired when it comes to testing long-range weapons," Shen grunted, hefting the rifle up to his shoulder, "And I am not particularly young nor fit anymore. But this weapon, as you can see, is much, much heavier than the beam rifle. And-" he fired, melting the shattered concrete block into a molten slurry and eliciting an awed whistle from Ruby, "-much more powerful, and if I had more room to put targets further away, I could show you its true range,"

Next were two curious weapons. One resembled either a diminutive assault rifle, or an extremely large pistol, depending on how someone looked at it. The other, however, looked like an oddly oversized beam rifle, with a menacing array of red lenses on the end of its muzzle. "These two are close-quarters weapons, designed to give the users a significant edge to mobility. The scatter laser provides our assault troops with unrivalled damage up close, though its lack of accuracy leaves something to be desired for those who prefer precision,"

"Well, that's why I've got you, isn't it, Ruby?" Yang said, grinning as she pulled her sister into a rib-crushing one-armed hug.

"And the rest of the team, Miss Xiao Long. All members of a strike force must learn to support each other. Now, as for the gauss stuttergun – this is a miniaturised electromagnetic railgun, light enough on both recoil and weight for someone to use with one hand, if absolutely necessary. It does, however, have rather poor penetration against alien armour. Perhaps due to the amount of gear that our support specialists carry, these tend to be most popular among our medics and engineers,"

"Light enough to use with one hand? That is certainly something that is always useful," remarked Weiss, looking at the gauss stuttergun with interest. Though the aesthetics of the weapon were somewhat blocky and crude to the heiress, there was a certain appeal to having something that required finesse to use. Doubly more so if she could use Myrtenaster over any of these less than elegant rifles.

Shen then permitted them to fire the weapons to their hearts' content, allowing the huntresses their first lessons in how to handle XCOM's weaponry. However, he could not help but notice that Weiss seemed to be only interested in using the stuttergun with only her right hand. The weapon bucked and jumped about in her grip, despite her best efforts to hold the gun steady.

"Miss Schnee. I'm curious about your reason about why you're using only one hand to use that particular gun," the engineer commented, watching the silvery-haired girl grit her teeth in frustration when the weapon almost jumped out of her hand again. Finally, on what seemed to be the tenth failed attempt, she unsheathed Myrtenaster and drew a ice-blue snowflake glyph in the air with its blade, before blasting the gun's entire magazine through the floating glyph. Orange turned into blue as the metal slugs shot through the glyph, tearing through a target dummy downrange with perfect precision.

Shen stared in disbelief when the target dummy froze solid and shattered into icy shards. He had only provided simple solid tungsten slugs for the gauss stuttergun. By all known laws of physics, there was no way of inducing flash freezing by _adding_ energy, regardless of what kind of energy it was.

Or creating a translucent glyph in mid-air using a rapier, which was now rapidly fading away.

"Hmph. I should have done that to start with," grumbled Weiss, sheathing her rapier and placing the stuttergun back on the bench as if nothing special had happened.

The old engineer made a mental note to speak to Dr. Vahlen regarding Weiss' strange ability to manipulate matter. Perhaps, he thought to himself, this was just an application of the 'aura' that Yang spoke about earlier. But if they could identify exactly how it worked, they would have another edge in the war against the aliens. After all, an alien that was frozen solid was one that could not fight back.

* * *

It turned out that despite Emily's predictions that Papa Bear would return to the XCOM headquarters before dinner, Strike One had been bogged down in an extended shootout with the aliens in a Nigerian slum district. It also did not help that there was a terror attack in Egypt within minutes of the force returning to base, forcing them to return to the field despite their exhaustion.

And so it was that Strike One – exhausted, though miraculously unscathed by their enemies – returned to the base by dawn; stiff, sore, and about ready to fall asleep for two days straight. Most had only devoured an high-calorie bar or two before shambling off to their dormitories, ready to fall into the comfort of a soft bed and a warm room after a nice long shower.

But if there was something to be said about Papa Bear, it was his incredible stamina and endless joviality. Spotting the new recruits in the common room sitting on a long couch discussing the previous day's events, the man decided that it was high time that they were properly introduced.

"New recruits!" boomed the man, plodding towards them with heavy, ponderous steps.

Each of the young huntresses stared in wide-eyed apprehension as the hulking mass of tanned muscle approached them, covered only in a damp linen towel. He flashed them a friendly smile and sat down on the small cushioned chair opposite them, causing the poor thing to groan and creak under his weight. The man's size and gait strongly reminded Ruby of a walking Ursa with a shaggy brown mane, though obviously far less prone to attack humans on sight.

"So, what brings pretty young birds like yourselves into my den? The other cubs haven't given you trouble, I hope?"

"I...uh..." Ruby stammered, looking up into the man's eyes. They were a stormy grey, with dark patches around them showing just how long it had been since he last slept; but there was a certain unmistakable warmth in them that was reassuring to the young huntress. "Papa Bear?"

"That'd be me, missy! And forget about my real name, I don't think half the cubs in this room know it, let alone say it properly. Just call me Bear when I'm not on duty. You still haven't answered my question, though. What brings you all to this anthill in the middle of nowhere, hm?"

"I heard that aliens were attacking, and thought that maybe you all needed some help. So we volunteered to join up!"

"Ooh, so you're the four that Central was talking about on the radio. The frozen alien girls who look like humans. Well, I can see that for myself, now. Welcome, by the way,"

"Central?" asked Yang, before she realised who Papa Bear was talking about, "Oh, grumpy,"

"That's the one. Central Officer Bradford. Kept saying things about how the blonde one managed to tear off a prison door with her bare hands – and how she then punched a chunk of concrete wall to dust. It'll take some engineering boys quite some time to fix that damage; but just between us, I say that's a damn impressive feat!"

"Thanks!" Yang said, beaming.

"No worries. So, you all going to introduce yourselves, or do I have to get your introductions from some of the other cubs in here?"

"I'm Yang," the blonde girl spoke, thumbing to herself, "Sleepy snow princess over there is Weiss, the one with the coffee in her hands is Blake, and this here-" she pulled Ruby to her, "-is my sister, Ruby,"

"Well then, I'm sure I can remember those names. Has Central told you yet about what you'll be doing in the coming days?"

The girls looked at each other and shook their heads. They hadn't even seen Bradford after the incident in the prison block, or even heard from the man. It took only Papa Bear a brief look at the girls' blank faces before he broke down into amused laughter.

"Oh, you'll _love_ it. Since I'm supposed to be off active duty for a few days, I'm going to be the one to take you through basic training and conditioning before your first mission. And do you know what that involves?"

Ruby shook her head, hoping that it would mostly involve shooting at targets. Target practice was always fun. Judging by the way Weiss blanched, however, it was likely far less pleasant than simple target practice.

"Getting up at the crack of dawn, and working out till you can't sit straight. I'll be there watching to make sure that none of you slack off. Emily!"

"Papa Bear?" the medic spoke, poking her head into the common room from her dormitory.

"Watch the new recruits for me for today, would you? Three laps around the whole base, making sure they go through every single room. Then an hour at the firing range, beam rifles only, followed by another three laps around the whole base,"

Ruby gawked at him. The whole base? That was going to take an hour of running around, at least, just for a single lap!

"Oh, don't look at me like that, cubs. You'll be doing this for five days, and I'll be making you run more and do more every day. All four of you will be doing this,"

* * *

A/N

MeleeSmasher: Soon.

theBSDude: Well spotted, caught, and now corrected. Have a cookie. *Rose petals fly past and cookie disappears* T_T RUUUUBY!

IndecisiveBob: As far as innocence, it's hard to say. They wouldn't be strangers to blood as they have killed Grimm in the past. They have not, however, killed a human - or likely seen a teammate die before. You can see this in the 'PvP' episode where Ruby breaks down after seeing the death of a friend. My take on it is that they would have no objections to killing aliens (as they are more or less equivalent to Grimm, in their eyes), but would have a hard time dealing with their own casualties.

I had originally intended for this chapter to also include their first mission, but decided that it would probably be better off in its own chapter. And so it has been split.

It's interesting to note that Weiss still has her ice glyphs despite not having any dust, and that they still have most of their properties, though in a greatly weakened state. One could say that the dust cartridges are only there to boost the power of what glyphs she decides to use, via Myrtenaster.

Next: First blood. How will RWBY fare when they are inserted into their first deployment as part of XCOM?

As usual, feel free to shoot comments via either review or PM. Feedback is always appreciated.


	5. 05 - Trial by Fire

Five days flew past for the girls, with no small amount of tears and sweat being shed on account of the relentless exercise regime that Papa Bear had put them through. If there was a small consolation for them, it was that Papa Bear had followed them in every exercise they performed, along with the rest of the rookies in XCOM Headquarters that he rounded up. He ran around the base when they did, shot at targets alongside them, and performed squats and sit-ups whenever they had to do so. The manner in which he taught – leading by example – contrasted strongly to the hands-off approach that Ozpin and the teachers in Beacon took; the man had years of experience and was willing to teach them in any way he could.

Despite his best efforts to convince Dr. Vahlen of the importance of studying the girls' abilities – particularly this mysterious 'aura' that they kept talking about – Dr. Shen had failed to tear the scientist away from her precious alien cadavers that she enjoyed dissecting so much. Reluctantly, he simply filed a note to Dr. Vahlen about the potential research lead, hoping that the woman would eventually come across it sometime.

For now, however, he was content to simply observe them. And what better way to observe them than on the field; Bradford had deemed them ready for their first mission, an abduction site in the United States. One that had relatively few moving thermal signatures, given their initial satellite scans of the site.

"Strike Six, Strike Five, report to the Skyranger for duty in five minutes," Bradford spoke through the base's speakers, "I repeat, Strike Six, Strike Five, report to the Skyranger in five minutes,"

"Well, this is it, everyone. Our first proper mission away from Remnant!" Ruby said cheerfully, nearly bouncing up and down in excitement. The excitement was only shared by Yang, who smacked her fists together in anticipation of the coming fight; Weiss grumbled about an early morning outing, while Blake's face remained neutral as she closed a piece of 'fine literature' that she had been reading.

When they arrived at the Skyranger, they found a familiar face waiting for them at the ramp of the aircraft. "Emily!" shouted Ruby, jogging forward to wrap her arms around the taller medic's waist. Yang and the others followed closely behind, giving the medic a friendly wave.

"Ruby! Your first mission, eh?" replied Emily, smiling as she ran a hand through the brunette's hair. "And the rest of your strike team, too. Are they ready for this?"

"As ready as we could possibly be, against an enemy we've never fought before," Blake spoke back in a deadpan tone. She cradled a beam rifle in her hands, still somewhat annoyed by the order that none of them were permitted to wield their own weapons until they had been at least assigned a proper soldier class. Something about 'learning the basics of teamwork', and requiring to know how the others would fight.

"Well, at least one of you has the right idea about fighting. You're never ready, no matter what,"

Emily suddenly snapped off a salute as a dark-skinned man walked past all of them, carrying several belts of ammunition and wearing the most long-suffering frown on his face. He gave the members of Strike Six an appraising look; with every shoulder patch that he inspected, his frown continued to deepen, until Ruby was fairly certain that had there been enough members in their squad, it would have carved a hole in his face.

"Rookies? This is what Central gives me for an alien abduction mission? _Rookies_?" he grumbled, storming into the Skyranger without so much as greeting any of them.

"And there's our most fearless squad leader. Sergeant Andersen," Emily groaned, rolling her eyes as she relaxed, "Totally a ray of sunshine, isn't he?"

"But...he's not glowing?" Ruby asked, bemused by what the medic had just said.

Between Emily looking at her as if she had grown another head, to Weiss simply covering her face in embarrassment of her team leader's naivety, Yang had to fight to suppress a laugh at her sister's expense – and failed. "You know, Rubes, one of these days, you'll finally get the idea of sarcasm," she giggled, slapping her on the back, "Anyway, let's get in the ship. I'm itching to put a few hits on something,"

Once the group had entered the dropship, they noticed the presence of two others already onboard. A round-faced man with a large rocket launcher was already sitting down on a bench, clutching at a cross on a chain and muttering feverishly under his breath. A box beside him had a few large rockets sticking out of it, painted almost entirely yellow for some reason. The other man wore a wide-brimmed leather hat which mostly hid his features; though when Ruby tried to peek under his hat, her eyes met his piercing glare.

"What do you want, missy?" he groused, unfolding his arms and leaning back, "Ain't nothing here for anyone to see. Not for you, and definitely not for the aliens,"

"Um...okay, then. I was thinking that since we'll be working together, we might as well get to know each other!" Ruby replied nervously, somewhat disturbed by the man's brusque greeting.

He waved her away dismissively. "Ain't nothing here for anyone to see but a number. Five-Seven to you and the rest of this squad. Fat Man over there blows up walls, and I put holes in enemy heads. Works simple, works great, and don't need nobody else to work with us,"

"Really? Fat Man? I wouldn't ever have guessed," Yang whispered sarcastically, rolling her eyes. That had to be one of the worst nicknames to have been given to any man alive, though she _did_ see how the name could have come from. After all, that man was rather well rounded and padded.

"Alright, folks, settle in, settle in!" barked the pilot, "Callsign is Big Sky, and I'm flying your battle taxi. Which means that for you folks in the hold, you sit your asses down in the benches and don't get up until the lights turn red and that ramp comes down, while I fly this bird to wherever it is Central needs you to go. You need evac, your CO drops a blue flare, and I come and pick you babies up. You got that?"

"Five-by-five, Big Sky," droned the older XCOM personnel dryly, obviously having heard the exact same thing many times over.

"Means you understand him properly. Just take my word for it," Emily said to the members of Strike Six, noticing their blank expressions. There were just some things that you couldn't understand without being with them for a while.

"Well, seeing as we have some FNGs with us, I expect that you experienced maggots will take care of them properly. I don't want to be hauling back bodybags, and unless you got a death wish, you don't want to explain to Central that you're bringing back some human corpses. Stay safe out there, people!"

* * *

"Central, this is Big Sky. We're approaching the AO, LZ looks clear,"

"Copy that, Big Sky. Strike Five, Strike Six, this is Central," Bradford spoke through their earpieces, "Ordinarily, Strike Five has eight members, but due to unfortunate circumstances, they are down to four members still combat effective. That means Strike Six, you will be filling the hole in their ranks. For this mission, you will receive your commands from Strike Five's CO. Follow his orders to the letter. Your orders are to secure the area and eliminate all hostiles. Initial scans indicate that there are no civilians in the area; collateral damage is not a concern. We expect there to be only a light enemy presence, and look forward to an excellent after-action report. Central out,"

The skyranger's hold had a large holographic screen for them to view the initial images of the battlefield. Right now, it was showing a run-down section of town, filled with narrow alleyways and litter-strewn footpaths. Several small shops lined the main avenue that ran through the place, where several cars had stopped haphazardly in the middle of the road.

Weiss frowned; if this was an attack, it was a little _too_ neat and orderly. There was no collateral damage that her sister often spoke about whenever there was any sort of military action. In fact, it looked positively _peaceful_ out there, if one were to disregard the cars stopped in the middle of the road with their doors open.

"Uh, Weiss? What's an AO again?" Ruby whispered to Weiss, who sighed and replied stiffly, "Maybe you need to stop eating those cookies while listening to Papa Bear's explanations. Area of operations, you dolt,"

"Means the place we're about to hit and clear of all aliens," Yang supplied helpfully, noting that her sister still appeared confused.

"Keep the chatter low, Strike Six. Touching down on the AO in five. Get to the nearest tall cover when that ramp drops," Sergeant Andersen shouted, "I want your guns raised and your eyes peeled. Rookies, that goes double for you,"

They felt a small bump as the vehicle's landing wheels touched the road below. When the ramp dropped, Strike Five immediately rushed out, their weapons held up and scanning for enemies; Strike Six followed closely behind them. The situation appeared to be clear, though both Blake and Weiss furtively looked over their shoulders with every step. There was an eerie sense of someone watching them from the shadows; as if the enemy could be anywhere around them.

"Tall cover. Hmm," Ruby muttered. She looked around; there were plenty of garbage cans around, but those would barely even cover her legs. There was, however, a large dumpster inside an alley leading away from the main avenue. Flattening herself against it, she peered around the corner.

"What...is that?" gasped the girl. There were several bodies on the ground. Human bodies. Plastered with what appeared to be sticky green gel of some sort. Some had their hands held out as if pleading for mercy from some unseen enemy, while others lay flattened, face first, as though they had been struck from behind as they fled.

"Bodies. We've got...bodies," muttered a horrified Weiss, clutching a hand to her mouth. She had taken a position next to a storefront, and had illuminated the inside of it with the torch strapped to the end of her rifle, immediately regretting that decision. "Dust, I do not understand. Why would they...why would anyone do this?"

"Keep your eyes peeled, rookies," hissed their CO, "Last thing we want is for the aliens to get the drop on us because one of you can't stay quiet. 6-3, 6-2, move inside this store. I want to make sure it's clear before we proceed,"

Remembering their assigned numbers, Yang and Blake shook off their disgust and nodded. The faunus stood beside the store's door, pushing it open quietly before Yang stormed in, sweeping her weapon slowly across the store.

"Looks empty," she commented, lowering her weapon slightly. The only things that she could see in the shop were the books on the shelves, and the bodies on the ground. The cashier's counter at the back still had a couple of bags that she supposed were full of books, right in front of two gel-covered bodies. She gritted her teeth in anger when she noticed the small size of one of the bodies. These aliens were abducting _children_!

Blake followed the blonde in, carefully stepping over a body on the ground. Curiosity got the better of her as she leant down to touch the green gel on the body, wondering what the stuff actually did to the targets they hit.

"These bodies...they're still...warm," said the faunus slowly, her eyes wide as she shook the green goo off her hands.

"The aliens don't kill their targets when performing abductions. They seem to want to keep them alive, but for what reason, we do not know," Vahlen spoke through their earpieces, causing them to jump.

"That woman still gives me the creeps. Rubes, seeing anything outside?"

"No...well...just bodies..." Ruby squeaked.

Blake's cat ears twitched when she heard a faint scratching noise, almost too quiet to hear. The sound came from behind the wall at the back of the store. Narrowing her eyes, she could see faint traces of green gel on the fire exit door behind the cashier's counter at the back. "I think I hear something. Scratching...something that's not metal, on rock...or concrete,"

"I can't hear anything from here, Blake. You sure you're not hearing things?"

The faunus rolled her eyes. "Funny that you should say that, Yang. You know that my hearing's better than yours. There's definitely something behind that door,"

"If you're certain about that, rookie, we'd better get ready," said Sergeant Andersen darkly. 5-2, 5-4, take firing positions beside those doors. 5-7, with me; we're taking a better vantage point. 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, get in that bookstore and behind the counter. Get ready to shoot anything that moves. 6-actual, take cover just behind that corner in front of you. Hold fire until the rest of us are in position,"

The team shuffled into position. Fat Man and Emily took up their places on either side of the fire exit, while Yang, Blake and Weiss crouched behind the cashier's counter, training their rifles on the door. If the stomping noises on the roof were any indication, Andersen and Five-Seven were moving into position.

"I'm there, guys. Are we all ready?" whispered Ruby into her earpiece, peeking around the corner. She could see the red fire exit door just ahead of her, with another two steel dumpsters directly in front of it. Two strange pods were emitting some noxious-looking green gases just beyond that.

"Ain't you just special, then, being so quick. Would you like a cookie?"

"Yes please!"

"...You know what, never mind, kid. Getting into position on the roof,"

Heavy boots stomped above the group in the bookstore again, letting them know that the sniper and the squad leader were getting into position. The scratching noises that Blake had heard before subsided soon after. Some kind of chattering replaced it; louder than the scratching, forming some kind of pattern. Was it the aliens speaking, perhaps?

"Something is not quite right here," Blake spoke, narrowing her eyes. "The scratching sound's gone, and I'm now hearing something...talking?"

"You sure you aren't hearing things, kid? I sure as hell don't see anything up here, other than a basketball court and trashcans," complained the sniper.

The sounds were getting louder. Getting closer and closer. There were three or four distinct voices, each chattering in the same unintelligible gibberish. Blake clutched her rifle tighter, turning her head so that her faunus ears pointed at the direction of the noise in an effort to pick up where it was coming from. She soon found herself staring at a wall to her left, with the noises loud and clear for her to pick up.

"We can't wait here all day for something that we don't know is even there," grumbled the sergeant above them, "5-4, open the fire exit,"

Before Blake could say 'wait', the fat man pushed open the fire door.

Only to be met with a barrage of green plasma bolts. The carapace armour that he was wearing absorbed several hits to his chest and legs, hissing loudly as the ablative coating dissipated the searing heat of the superheated gases. Another shot blasted clean through his kneecap, severing his leg at the knee; screaming in agony, the man fell down to the ground, before another shot incinerated his chest cavity.

"X-Rays spotted! Top of building overlooking basketball court, and down on the ground near the second alleyway; a Thin Man, and three Sectoids!" yelled the sergeant. "5-2, status of 5-4?"

Emily stood frozen, staring at the still-smoking corpse that was once the squad's rocketeer. There were bits of charred skin and flesh still stuck to her face when the plasma bolts blasted open the contents of his chest. Even now, the gaping wound in the middle of his chest was still ablaze, filling the room with a sharp, acrid stench.

 _That could have been me_ , she thought to herself. It was just like the mission in which they rescued the girls that were now Strike Six. The smell of burning flesh, the sharp sting of ionised gases; it was too close, too real, too crippling. Her heart was pounding at a million miles an hour. She wanted to get out of here. No, she _needed_ to get out of here.

"Oh God. Oh God," she stammered, slowly inching away from the body. Breaking into a run, she dashed through the fire exit towards Ruby, narrowly avoiding another barrage of green lightning. "Get me out of here! Evac!" she wailed, clutching the helmet on her head with both her hands as she ran.

"5-4 is...dead..." Blake said slowly, resisting the urge to retch on the spot. "5-2 ran away. I can't see her,"

"Emily, stay with me!" they heard Ruby's voice call out through the comms, slightly higher than normal.

The dark-haired girl was desperately trying to calm her friend, who had by now turned into a whimpering ball beside a dumpster that was Ruby's previous cover. A bolt of plasma whistled past Ruby's head when she peeked out, grazing the tip of her bangs. "I'm under fire here!"

"I got your back, kiddo," spoke Five-Seven. His sniper rifle barked once; a dark shape came hurtling down from the top of the apartment across the basketball court, landing with a sickening crunch on the concrete below. "Target...neutralised,"

"Thanks!" Ruby replied, relieved. She saw two squat, hunched aliens hiding behind the dumpster on the other end of the building, just past the fire exit that had been thoroughly bombarded by plasma. She could see their heads poking over the top of the metal container; barely visible, their positions largely only given away by the pistols held over their heads.

 _Take the shot_ , she told herself. Lifting the beam rifle up, she held it steady, lining up the sights with the top of the dumpster and waiting for the alien to poke its head up again.

 _Breathe out. Pull the trigger smoothly. It's just like Crescent Rose, just smaller...and weaker. Just like Crescent Rose...smaller...weaker..._

A crimson beam of light arced out from the tip of her rifle, streaking out and through the little grey alien's head. It crumpled to the ground, half of its skull missing. The second one, on seeing the death of two of its allies, chittered and scampered away and out of sight.

"They're falling back! 6-Actual, advance!"

"Oh, come on!" Ruby whined, running forward to the still-intact dumpster in front of the fire exit. Immediately on reaching it, a bolt of plasma narrowly missed her head, courtesy of the sectoid who had seemingly run off.

It was only then that Ruby noticed something different about the strange little alien creature. While the other one that she had shot had eyes that appeared to be dull and glazed over, this one was bright with keen intelligence. Instead of running away like she had expected, this one had taken cover behind a stack of wooden crates, ensuring that it remained hidden if the sniper tried to look for him. Chattering angrily, it raised its plasma pistol and fired another few rounds at Ruby, both shots going wild and vaporising the walls of the apartment behind her.

"That was close," gasped the huntress, glancing over her shoulder at the rapidly melting brick wall behind her.

Turning back to face the creature, her eyes widened when its hand was engulfed in what looked like purple flames. Its eyes practically shone with malice as it lashed out with a whip of purple flame, catching Ruby by surprise. While the touch of the whip seemed to do no physical damage at all, pain unlike anything Ruby had ever felt before shot through every single one of her nerves, causing her to crumple to the ground, writhing in pain. It was as though she were being both burned alive and frozen simultaneously, all while being torn into a thousand pieces by blunt Beowolf claws. Perhaps it was even real, considering that there appeared to be numerous dark claws raking itself into her skin-

Wait. Beowolf claws? Without the _rest_ of the Beowolf?

"This has got to be fake!" she said angrily, forcing herself to stand despite the pain. Her vision was swimming, and she could see the rifle in her hands trembling; but at this range, she couldn't miss.

A laser beam blasted into the creature's right shoulder, just a little too low to strike its head. The flames in its hand vanished as it hissed in pain. Just as the flames vanished, so did the pain racking the young huntress' body, replaced by an almost overpowering sense of nausea.

"Ruby! What's going on out there?" she heard Yang scream, though it was oddly muffled, as though someone had thrown a pair of extremely thick earmuffs over her head.

"Looks like a psi attack of some sort. 6-4, go out there and give 6-Actual support until she recovers from it,"

Whatever this creature was, it seemed to have an incredible capacity for pain. Ignoring the wound in its shoulder, it conjured yet another ball of purple flames in its still functioning hand. Though instead of looking at Ruby, it stared up. Right into the eyes of Five-Seven, who had his revolver out and was ready to put a bullet in its brain.

Snarling, its eyes glowed a vivid violet. Five-Seven stiffened and seized up, his pistol now twitching in his grip. Slowly, he pivoted around and stared at Ruby. His eyes were blank and unseeing orbs of the same vivid violet as the creature. An inhuman screech left his lips as he raised his weapon, levelling it at the girl's heart.

"Dust, what the hell are you doing! Stop this!" shouted a wide-eyed Weiss at the sniper. Noticing that his fingers were twitching, she hurriedly lifted up a hand and summoned a glyph with all her might in front of Ruby. The floating force glyph shattered with a ear-splitting blast as the high-calibre bullet smashed into it; the huntress that it was shielding was thrown to the ground by the backlash, but was otherwise unharmed.

"Interloper...die..." he hissed, now moving his pistol to aim at Weiss. Without any nearby cover, Weiss waved her hand to conjure another force glyph in front of her. To her horror, the glyph materialised for less than a second before it flickered away. Now staring down the end of the barrel of the insane sniper's pistol, she closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable.

 _Bang._

Nothing.

She felt nothing.

Opening her eyes a fraction, she saw the squad leader of Strike Five grappling with the sniper. Whatever had happened to the sniper seemed to have greatly enhanced his strength; despite Sergeant Andersen's much greater bulk, the thin and wiry sniper was giving the gunner a significant amount of trouble keeping him pinned against the wall. Even with all his body weight against Five-Seven, Andersen sweated profusely as he strained to pry the pistol out of the man's hand.

"6-2, 6-3, 5-2! Kill that damn sectoid commander! That's an order!" roared Andersen, snapping Blake and Yang out of their stunned stupor, "I can't hold this guy down for much longer! Ten seconds!"

If either of them were Ruby, ten seconds would have been plenty to chase and dispatch the sectoid that was currently hiding on the other side of the building, especially with the aid of her Semblance.

Neither of them had something that could help, unless-

Yang looked down at the belt on her armour. There was a grenade there; a high-explosive one, designed to take out solid concrete walls and turn unarmoured enemies to paste. The wall of the bookstore was only brick and wood, and was not terribly solid. A blast would be enough to carve a shortcut through the building – and possibly even kill the alien on the other side. "Blake," she growled, pulling the pin on the grenade, "Move away from the wall, and get ready to shoot the alien as soon as you can,"

A powerful blast rocked the building as the wall exploded outwards, spraying the sectoid commander with bits of shattered brick and splinters of wood. With only a few seconds left to go, the faunus rushed out to shoot the alien. She raised her rifle and aimed for the creature's torso, though she pulled the trigger with far too much force and the shot went wild, incinerating the brick wall behind the sectoid.

"Missed!" Blake snarled, adjusting her aim for a second shot.

The sectoid narrowed its eyes at her menacingly. "Goddamn it, Five-Seven, get a grip on yourself- fuck, man, let go of that gr-"

Another powerful blast rocked the building, this time powerful enough to cause part of the ceiling to collapse. Weiss threw herself in front of the still-prone Ruby, shielding her from the worst of the hail of debris that rained on them all. When the last of the concrete and wood chips had stopped falling on her head, she looked up to see that half the building had fallen down, with no sign of either the sniper or their squad leader anywhere. Blake, hurled against a dumpster by the sheer force of the explosion, lay slumped on the ground with her weapon a good ten feet away. She stirred and groaned, but could not muster enough strength to push herself up.

The sectoid commander was still up. Its gait was unsteady from the steady loss of blood that it had been enduring. But its eyes were locked on Blake's body. Slowly, it limped over to the fallen huntress, its plasma pistol raised and charged. It took careful aim, ready to end the girl-

"Oh no, you don't!" yelled Yang furiously, charging at the alien with a fist raised. Her armoured gauntlet smashed against its chin with an audible crack. It screeched in pain and dropped its pistol, pressing its hand against its shattered jaw. With incredible force, the blonde reared back and slammed home another blow against the sectoid's midsection, launching it into a wall – and through the wall, and a table, before the creature's twitching body came to a rest inside a refrigerator's coolant coils. "You are _not_ touching my kitty cat!"

 _Kitty cat?_ Weiss thought to herself, suppressing a laugh despite their grim surroundings. If Blake heard about that one, she was certain that Yang would not live to see the evening, Aura shielding her or otherwise. Still, there were still other aliens on site, if Bradford was right, and she could not afford to let her guard down at this time.

As the white-haired girl stooped over to help her team leader stand, her boot bumped against something hard and metallic. She caught sight of a rather unique pistol; the heavy revolver that the insane sniper had used. Though its wooden handle was charred and pitted from the explosion, she could see the appeal in using such a weapon. It was a perfect blend of elegance and power; the long, heavy barrel provided exceptional accuracy, while the large cavities in the weapon's cylinder indicated that it was designed to fire rounds almost as powerful as Ruby's own Crescent Rose.

One shot, one kill, in one hand. That was what she had been looking for, all this time!

"Alright, let's get you up, you dolt," huffed Weiss after she clipped the charred revolver onto her belt. Leaning down, she hauled Ruby to her feet with one smooth movement. The red-haired huntress stumbled unsteadily for a few seconds before she fell back down with a pained yelp. "Or...not. I suppose I will have to help you for a while,"

"Strike Five, Strike Six, be advised of incoming hostiles. We count at least six small aliens approaching your position. Given the current speed of their approach, they will be in your position in approximately twenty seconds from the direction of the concrete clearing north of your location. Find some cover and prepare to ambush them,"

"Twenty seconds? No, no, no!" Yang said, looking for cover wildly. The bookstore was no longer solid enough to protect them – not that she would try to find cover in a burning building, as flames are certainly not friendly to anyone wishing to keep themselves in one piece. Blake was still floored by the concussive force of the earlier explosion, and Weiss had to prop Ruby up with her shoulders, as her sister appeared to be incapable of standing on her own for some reason. There weren't enough of them to eliminate all of the newcomers effectively or safely.

If only they had one more person to help...

"We still got Fat Man's rocket launcher, Yang. He won't be needing it any more," Emily said thickly. The medic was holding the weapon in her arms, along with three spare rockets that she had found on the fallen soldier's body. "Load it, and blow 'em all to hell," snarled the woman, thrusting the entire package into Yang's arms.

Yang nodded enthusiastically, drooling at the chance of using some serious firepower. The bigger the explosions, the better! As long as it was in the general area of their enemies, of course. "Sounds like a plan. Let's do this!"

When the six sectoid grunts arrived on site, they were greeted by a curious scene. One building was all but burned down; a thin man was plastered on the concrete in front of an apartment block, and their commander was nowhere to be seen. And most curiously yet, they did not see a single creature in the area that could have caused all of this.

That was, until one of them noticed what looked like a fat stovepipe peeking over the top of a tall dumpster.

"Say cheese!" shouted Yang as she pulled the trigger on the rocket launcher. A yellow rocket streaked out towards the middle of the group, before detonating just above the surface of the ground with a deafening explosion and a blindingly bright mushroom cloud.

"Strike Five, Strike Six, this is Central. There are no more alien thermal signatures in the AO. Mission accomplished. Excellent work out there, everyone,"

Ruby raised her head to take a look around the site. One building was all but burned down. The body of the squad's rocketeer lay in a pool of his own blood by a doorway; Emily was standing over him, sobbing profusely. The sniper and the squad leader was nowhere to be seen, having been vaporised by the grenade's explosion. The usually quick and nimble Blake had an arm around Yang's shoulders to steady herself, wincing with every ginger step she took. And Ruby herself was leaning heavily on Weiss, who was strangely quiet, enduring the weight of two people without complaint.

If this was 'excellent', she did not even want to think about what anything less than that would be like.

* * *

A/N

Anything less than 'excellent', really, is a normal day in XCOM. What's a mission without a suicide rookie scouting ahead of the main group, anyway?

But yes. Losing is fun (tm). Just like in Dwarf Fortress! Blood for the blood god!

Indecisive Bob: Yeah, it's a bit odd that there's no gym at Beacon, considering that physical fitness is probably one of the most important things to have for someone that's out hunting monsters with melee weapons (with guns built in them, heh). I don't think though that anyone would ever find physical conditioning a cakewalk. If you're not pushing yourself, you're not actually getting conditioned :P

That being said, I have plans for how Aura is managed on Earth vs. Remnant. Let's just say that Weiss has probably figured out the first piece of the puzzle.

MeleeSmasher: That would be a fun way to show that bayonets are not dead. I mean, scythe-guns...something...hmm...chainsaws come to mind... (sticks chainsaw bayonets on plasma rifles, gets rookie killed anyway because they weren't trained in hand to hand combat)

Next up: The cure for post-battle stress? Is there even such a thing?

* * *

Operation Fire Axis: After Action Report

Cpl. Rick 'Five-Seven' Connors: KIA  
Cpl. Carlos 'Fat Man' Garcia: KIA  
Sgt. Thorsten 'Sunshine' Anderson: KIA  
Cpl. Emily 'Angel' Vargas: Active (Promoted)  
Spc. Ruby Rose: Wounded (Promoted)  
Spc. Yang Xiao Long: Active (Promoted)  
Spc. Weiss Schnee: Active (Promoted)  
Spc. Blake Belladonna: Wounded (Promoted)

3 KIA, 2 wounded. 9 of 9 aliens killed. Council rating: Good


	6. 06 - Recovery

"Central, this is Big Sky. We are now on final approach to the base; requesting hangar doors to be opened,"

"Copy that, Big Sky. Hangar doors are opening. Over and out,"

The sombre mood inside the ship was almost crushing. Three of the original eight that went on the mission had been killed. Only one had been recovered in a body bag, the other two having been vaporised in a powerful plasma grenade explosion. Emily refused to talk to any of them, clutching at her head while muttering indiscernible words under her breath. Yang had her arms wrapped around a tight-lipped Blake, who was stoically ignoring the pain in her badly bruised and swollen legs. Even Ruby was not unscathed, the head-splitting nausea that the alien had given her having been made that much worse by the skyranger's endless rocking and pitching.

For what felt like the umpteenth time, Ruby retched and heaved over a plastic bucket that Big Sky kept in the hold for these times. "Christ, kid, get a grip on yourself," the pilot chided. "We're almost back to base,"

"I can't help it!" moaned Ruby, dry-heaving over the empty bucket again. Weiss glared in the direction of the pilot before awkwardly wiping away a wad of slime from the young huntress' lips with her handkerchief.

"What exactly happened to you with that alien, Ruby?" Weiss asked, "This is nothing compared to what you normally do back at Beacon, and you've never had motion sickness. And yet here you are, vomiting,"

"Don't knoooow, Weiss... Oooh, my head..."

"She got attacked by a sectoid commander, didn't she?" Big Sky said. Noticing that none of them replied, he added, "Figures. See Dr. Vahlen once you get back to base for a few meds. She won't need the hospital as much as a few antidepressants, hot chocolate and maybe a bottle of whiskey or two. Or several, if she can take it,"

"How would drinking any of that solve a headache?" demanded the heiress, not quite sure whether or not the pilot was insane. She had a few fortified wines before in her father's estate, but the only thing that seemed to give her was a terrible headache in the morning after. Hot chocolate was pleasant enough for those that liked sweet things, though even that would not help with what seemed to be a migraine of truly epic proportions.

"Hell if I know. Seemed to work just fine for Strike One, though, so you might want to see if that works out for you girls, too. Just saying,"

The external camera feed was being redirected into the display screen in the skyranger's hold, and Weiss could now see the hole in a rocky desert mountain that was the XCOM headquarters' hangar door. Sighing, she looked around at her remaining squadmates. They all looked like they could use a well-deserved break, but given that their mission had just ended, a debriefing was likely required by Bradford.

"You know, you guys have been through a lot of shit today. For what it's worth, I'm sorry you all had to go through that," Emily sniffed, finally looking up. Her eyes were puffy and red, and her eyes seemed completely unfocused. "I guess...as the highest ranked soldier remaining on this squad, I have to face the music, don't I?"

"Music? What music? I don't hear any music," Ruby wheezed out in between retches.

"She means that she has to report to Bradford, you dolt," muttered Weiss, resisting the urge to give the naive brunette a smack about the ears, "And that means that she'll have to take any punishment that he decides to be appropriate for whatever happened down there,"

"What? But...she didn't do anything wrong!"

"I panicked. That mistake costs people, big time," she said glumly, "If I had been there beside Blake and Yang, maybe I could've put a laser beam between that sectoid's eyes. If I had done that, then maybe we'd still have two more people with us..."

Weiss looked away from the medic, her thoughts no longer focused on the woman's self-condemning words. It was true that three of the squad had died. It was true that two of them were now wounded, both of them her own close friends. There were so many ways that the mission could have gone better, and probably an equal number of ways that it could have been worse. She looked at her own hands. What would have happened if her glyph failed to materialise in time in front of Ruby...? What would have happened if that insane sniper had hit her?

* * *

Emily had insisted on debriefing Bradford alone, and the last Weiss had seen of Yang and Blake was that the blonde insisted on carrying the faunus girl to the hospital wing. That left only Ruby and herself to return back to the barracks, covered in grime and sweat. Thankfully, the brunette's vomiting had stopped the moment their transport had touched down, though she still appeared paler than usual and thoroughly exhausted. Even now, Ruby was still clung to her shoulder as they walked, her legs still unsteady despite the apparent lack of any physical injuries.

"There you are, you two," a familiar booming voice called out, nearly knocking them over the moment that they opened the barracks' doors. Standing in front of them was Papa Bear, his meaty arms crossed over his chest and a concerned look in his eyes. "I was starting to wonder where you were. Where's the other two of you? The blonde and the girl with the cat ears?"

"If you meant Blake and Yang, the last I saw was that both of them were headed for the hospital wing," Weiss replied, struggling to stand up as Ruby began to feel much heavier on her shoulder.

The man's eyes were staring directly at her own, as though searching for something. He repeated the same with Ruby, whose gaze seemed to be fixed on some truly distant object. Only when he waved his large hand in front of her eyes did the younger girl yelp in shock, falling flat on her backside and then desperately scrambling to her feet again.

"We were watching what was happening, you know. Up in mission control," he said slowly, "Things weren't looking good down there. Bradford had his doubts about your abilities, but what you did down there cleared up any of that. Congratulations on a mission well done,"

"Three of my squadmates died," Ruby replied hoarsely. She looked at Papa Bear dejectedly, adding, "One of my closest friends was injured. I could've done more. I should've done more!"

"Nonsense! You've done all you could, and what you've done was nothing short of spectacular," Papa Bear scoffed. The way that everyone held their breath and cheered when they saw the little huntress take the most improbable of shots – against two sectoids that were nearly impossible to hit from her position at the time – capping one of them and critically wounding the other – that had _not_ happened since...well, _ever_. He smiled a little, just recalling Bradford's slack-jawed expression when the dead sectoid painted the brick wall behind it yellow with its blood and brains.

"Spectacular? Papa Bear, people are dead! And it's all because of-"

"Don't finish that sentence, cub," he growled loudly, his usually jovial expression darkening. Both Ruby and Weiss visibly flinched. "That is no way for anyone to think, let alone for a young lady like yourself. Did you pull the trigger on Sunshine? Or on Five-Seven? Did you put a bullet through Fat Man's kneecap and chest?"

Hesitantly, Ruby shook her head. "But I...I didn't-"

"I know what's running through your head at the moment. Happens to every single rookie that's seen one of their fellows die. You think you could have saved them. You think that if you killed that sectoid commander, you could have saved the rest of your team. I'll ask you this; who do you think was behind you at the time? Hiding improperly behind a dumpster just around the corner, peeking her head out to watch what you were doing?"

"Emily," Weiss spoke. Ruby's face drained of any remaining colour when she recalled the woman hiding behind her at the time, scared out of her wits.

"That's right. And you know what that first sectoid was aiming at? Why it wasn't even trying to shoot at you? It was aiming straight at a living squadmate, who was at that time incapable of defending herself. So let me tell you this; you shot a sectoid's head off, therefore stopping it from shooting at Emily, and therefore she didn't bite the dust. She owes you her life,"

"But...the others..."

Papa Bear shook his head. "No buts, cub. What happened to Sunshine and Five-Seven was unfortunate, but that was not something that you could have prevented,"

Ruby couldn't find the strength to raise her eyes from the floor. If she had aimed just a little higher, and to the left...

"Honestly, I'm more surprised that you survived a sectoid commander's mindfray attack and can still walk and talk normally. Not many rookies can claim to have done that,"

"Excuse me – a _mindfray_? What is that?" asked Weiss, curious about what sort of attack could damage someone without actually even touching them or leaving any physical marks.

The man looked at Weiss in disbelief for a moment. Without warning, he snarled and shook his fist at the ceiling. "Oh, you...arse!" he roared to nobody in particular, before taking a deep breath and turning back to the two girls. "I really think you do need an explanation. Both of you. Remind me to strangle Bradford next time I get called up to mission control. And...you haven't been to Vahlen yet, have you? After what happened there?"

Both of them shook their heads. Big Sky had also said something about going straight to the stern and harsh doctor, as well. Was there something that they had missed?

"Right. You'll need to see her as soon as you can. Make sure you do it before you go to sleep, so she can give you some sleeping meds and painkillers. If all else fails, having something you really like can help with the after-effects of that attack,"

Shooting Ruby an apologetic grimace, he turned to Weiss. "Normally, I'd let Bradford give rookies the talk whenever they need to know about what they're up against. But since he's apparently not done that for some reason, I'll tell you about what a mindfray is, just so you know. It's one of the nastiest things that the aliens can do to you, short of just killing you. Feels like you've been set on fire, thrown into an ice-cold lake, and struck by a thunderbolt. All at the same time. Throw in some unpleasant memories made flesh for flavour, and you've got a mindfray,"

"That sounds horrible. Ugh, forget I even asked," Weiss muttered, shuddering. Grimm attacks were only ever physical; they _never_ attacked the mind, which would have made hunting them very complicated indeed.

"That's not all. Normally, it'd just leave you twitching in pain. Probably floored, too. But some of these sectoid commanders lately...they've been able to turn some of our men around. Controlling them like puppets,"

"You mean...that sniper...?"

Papa Bear nodded gravely. "Yes. Normally, someone who's alright in the head can probably resist it. Five-Seven's never quite had his brain screwed on right, so that sectoid went right through. Mind controlled him, as easy as one of us putting on a glove. If it wasn't for your friend here, Ruby, you wouldn't be alive. That thing she did stopped the bullet; and I can tell you that the Carapace Armour that you were wearing wouldn't have even slowed it down one bit. Which makes me wonder; what the hell _was_ that, Weiss? I'd like to see it for myself, not on some holographic display,"

Weiss frowned. The second time that she had tried to bring up a force glyph in combat, it barely materialised. There was no telling whether or not she could actually conjure another glyph, now, or ever. Then again, it had been some time now, and maybe she'd been rested enough to do it again. She raised a hand, slowly drawing the sky-blue glyph in the air. To her relief, the glyph actually held together, hovering in place in front of a wide-eyed Papa Bear.

"Incredible," he breathed, tapping the glyph and finding it solid. Grinning, he reared back and threw a hard punch into it, filling the room with a deep, resonant ringing when he struck its glowing surface. "Well, I suppose I should know better than to try and punch something that's solid enough to block a fifty-cal pistol round. I could probably punch it all night and it wouldn't budge. Maybe a MEC trooper's kinetic strike module would have a better chance than I do,"

A few seconds later, the glyph winked out of existence, leaving only faint ice-blue sparks in its wake. "How embarrassing. That was less than ten seconds!" Weiss grumbled, attempting to conjure another glyph. One more materialised in front of her, though it was only barely a faint outline of a glyph; and even that vanished as soon as it appeared.

"Maybe you just need a rest. Can't be that easy to put up something like that in an instant," offered the colonel, with an amused smile on his face, "Other rookies pray to Lady Luck that they don't get hit by an alien. You, Ruby? You've got a personal guardian angel, right there. Treat her nicely, you hear?"

Papa Bear clapped Ruby on the shoulder, laughing to himself as he left the confused girl behind. Weiss, on the other hand, stared incredulously at the man's back. "What did he mean by that?" she whispered to herself, feeling a little heat rise to her cheeks.

* * *

After taking a long, hot shower, both Ruby and Weiss went to Vahlen's laboratory, only to find that the doctor was unavailable. There was a note on the locked door saying that she was down in the hospital wing's surgery and that she would return in a little while. Scowling, Weiss tried to peer through the laboratory's tinted windows to see if there was even anyone inside that could help them.

"Weiiiisss..." Ruby moaned, "Can't we just...go to sleep?"

"No, not yet. You need to be given your medicine first before you can go to sleep," Weiss said firmly. As tempting as a soft, warm bed sounds, treating injuries always came first. Even if said injuries were invisible to the eye.

Yet half an hour passed with no sign of the doctor returning. The two had seated themselves on a supply crate that was sitting in front of the laboratory, thinking that it would have been a quick wait. Ruby sat there tapping her feet idly on the floor, while Weiss had her arms crossed, staring at the ceiling.

 _Well, this is certainly productive..._ the heiress thought sarcastically, stealing a glance at the look of ultimate boredom on her partner's face. She looked as though she were ready to fall asleep on her feet, only barely keeping herself from nodding off every few seconds. It was certainly adorable, in a way that only their leader could pull off. She looked so harmless, so innocent.

There were only so many lines in the ceiling that one could count, and so many cracks to trace in the concrete. Sighing, she racked her brain for what else she could possibly do to pass the time.

Practicing her glyphs was not an option, given that for some reason or another, her ability to cast them repeatedly was somehow compromised. Polishing Myrtenaster? Her rapier was still in their dorm, locked away in her footlocker. Sleeping? As tempting as that was, she needed to look after her unwell team leader, and she couldn't do that while sleeping.

Singing?

Singing. That was one thing that her father had drilled into her from a young age. It was enjoyable enough for her – as long as it wasn't in front of an audience or a tutor. She looked around. Ruby was half-asleep as it was, and there were no other people around in the corridor that they were in. This was as private as it would be in a base of stacked rooms.

And so Weiss closed her eyes and started singing softly. A gentle, calm melody that she remembered from a long time ago. It wasn't exactly the same without the accompanying instruments that her tutors played, but it was still pleasant enough to her ears.

 _Alone, for a while, I've been searching through the dark_

 _For traces of the love you left inside my lonely heart;_

 _To weave by picking up the pieces that remain_

 _Melodies of life, love's lost refrain-_

 _Thunk_.

"Huh?" Weiss said. Her eyes shot open; there was a strangely warm weight on her legs – and what felt like hands wrapped around her waist. Looking down, she found Ruby fast asleep, the younger girl's head nestled in her lap.

 _Was my singing that bad that she fell asleep?_ the white-haired girl thought, flushing in embarrassment. She had half a mind to stand up and let Ruby fall down. But that look of contentedness; that gentle rise and fall of her chest, that even, calm breathing – those were things that she thought had been impossible, given how badly affected Ruby was by the deaths of her squadmates. Perhaps those medicines were unnecessary after all, if she could sleep like this...

 _No. Waking her up is not an option. She needs this sleep._ Glancing around, there was still no sign of Dr. Vahlen anywhere. Sighing, she looked down again at the sleeping girl. She was only wearing a thin T-shirt and some cargo pants, and the corridor was rather chilly, with the cold storage rooms just at the other end of the hallway. Without a doubt, staying here for any longer was going to get both of them sick. She needed to get back to the barracks. That medication could wait for now.

With a grunt, Weiss pried Ruby's arms off and pushed her gently off her lap, before crouching down and wrapping one arm around her shoulders. Slipping one arm under her knees and the other behind her back, the heiress slowly rose to her feet with the sleeping girl in a bridal carry. She might not be a brute like Yang was, but to pick up someone as slightly built as Ruby was, one did not require the strength of an Ursa.

"Mmm...warm...must take care of..." Ruby mumbled in her sleep. Without warning, the girl threw her arms around Weiss' shoulders and nuzzled closer. Her flushed face turned an even more brilliant crimson at the sudden gesture. Nobody had ever touched – or rather, grabbed her – in that way before.

"Okay. Calm down. She's your team leader. This dolt's just your team leader, who needs to be carried back to her bunk," Weiss whispered to herself, desperately trying to ignore the thundering of her heart. As quickly as she could, she walked back to the elevator and pushed the button to descend with her elbow.

Thankfully, the barracks was still empty at that hour, with most of the other operatives out on exercises or eating lunch in the cafeteria, thus sparing Weiss from any prying eyes that might question what she was doing. Quietly, she pushed open the door to Strike Six's dorm with her right foot, sighing in relief when neither Blake nor Yang had returned yet.

"Right. So...there. Done," huffed Weiss, gently lowering Ruby onto her bed. The brunette was usually a sound sleeper, often needing Yang to tilt the entire mattress off her bed to wake her up; but being picked up and carried for quite some distance without waking up must have been a new record, even for her.

The white-haired girl stood up and yawned, making her way to the door. She was exhausted as well, and would love nothing more than to sleep. But Ruby needed her medicine, and if she couldn't get it in person, then at least one of them would have to get it for her. Which meant that Weiss had to wait for Dr. Vahlen to return to her lab, no matter how long that was. Before she could reach the door, however, she heard a faint sniffle and a whimper; and what happened next nearly caused her to jump in fright.

"No! You won't take them- you can't take them from me!" wailed Ruby, thrashing in her sleep, "No! NOOOO!"

"Ruby!" exclaimed Weiss, dashing back to the bunk. The younger girl's eyes shot open with fear the moment Weiss touched her hands. They were cold and clammy, and her face was shimmering with a thin layer of cold sweat. Her silver eyes darted about, as though looking for some invisible opponent. Finding none, she burst into tears and curled up on the bed.

"I...I thought..." Ruby sobbed, "I...I saw-"

"Calm down. I'm here, even if Yang and Blake aren't here. What did you see?"

"I...I thought I saw Yang. And Blake. And...you. Getting shot at by those...those aliens. We were surrounded, in a city. And then...I saw..."

"Stop. Stop there," Weiss spoke sharply. She grabbed Ruby's cheek and pinched it, drawing a pained yelp from the brunette, "You were having a nightmare. This is real. You are real. I'm real. You're safe. We're safe,"

"Ow. Oww! Okay, okay! Stop, Weiss, stop!" Ruby whined, when Weiss refused to let go of her cheek.

"Hmph. Okay, you dolt," she said, letting go of the girl's cheek with a faint smirk, "I'll be off for a while. You will need your medicine from Dr. Vahlen, and since last time you fell asleep while waiting, I believe that it would be more efficient if I were to retrieve the medicine for you while you stay here and rest,"

Weiss thought she saw a flash of fear in Ruby's eyes when she said that she would be leaving her alone for a while, but she put it away in the back of her mind as a figment of her imagination. It was only when she reached the doorway for the second time that she heard her voice calling out once more, in that aggravatingly plaintive mewl that she had while feeling guilty about something.

"Weiiiisss..."

Sighing, Weiss turned around again to face her. "What is it this time?"

"Do you...do you think you can...sleep with me?"

Her mind went blank at the absurdity of the request. "Excuse me?" she all but choked out. _By Dust, what is going on in that girl's head!_

"I'm sorry! I-it's just..." Ruby muttered, wringing her hands together nervously, "It's just...I'm worried about that happening again. I don't want a nightmare again-"

"And you think that having me that close to you might stop it happening. Is that correct?" finished Weiss, now understanding what Ruby was trying to say, though no less unimpressed. Ruby nodded vigorously, her eyes filled with hopeful expectation.

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. As far as requests go, this was likely nowhere near as strange as the things that had been asked of her back in Beacon Academy. But even the weirdest of those requests rarely carried the threat of potentially getting maimed or killed by a fellow hunter or huntress in training. Every single person on campus knew of one rule about Ruby; getting too close to her – either in an overly friendly or hostile manner – was a sure way to earn a super-powered punch from her elder sister. Or several equally bone-shattering punches. Sleeping in the same bed as her, even as a teammate? She had never dared to do that before.

But Ruby was suffering through a strange mental affliction, and as a teammate, one was supposed to look after the other members of the team. If Ruby needed to have some company to sleep soundly for the night, then who was she to refuse to help her teammate?

"Fine. Let me get my pillow first," huffed Weiss, throwing the switch on the door frame to dim the lights above the bunks.

Ruby's face lit up with relief when Weiss returned to her side. She scooted over to one side of the bed, watching as the white-haired girl pulled the pillow down from the top bunk and fluffed it up next to her own. Her smile widened further when Weiss climbed into the bed beside her, pulling the blanket at the foot of the bed up to cover both of them.

"Well, you wanted to sleep, right?" Weiss yawned, to which Ruby nodded appreciatively.

Without warning, Ruby's arms shot out and wrapped around her body, pulling her into a tight embrace.

"Weiss," she whispered into the white-haired huntress' ear, "Thanks,"

"Just this once, dolt," Weiss whispered back, gingerly returning the hug and stroking the younger girl's back. The two of them soon fell into companionable silence, Ruby's head resting in the crook of her neck. Despite her initial misgivings, the heiress found the arrangement acceptable. Comfortable, even, considering the coldness of the heaterless dorm. And the scent of roses that lingered about her partner's hair was certainly not repulsive in any way, compared to some of the other smells that had assaulted her nose that day.

 _Maybe this isn't such a bad idea after all_ , thought Weiss, as the two of them drifted off into sleep.

* * *

A/N

Well, better sleep with one eye open, Weiss. Big Sister is watching you...

Next up: Promotions and equipment upgrades. Ruby, get off me. I'm not unlocking Shen's workshop until later! D:

MeleeSmasher: Yes, both of them got fragged by an alien plasma grenade. This is actually not very common in XCOM:EW, even with the Long War mod; though it is surprisingly much more common in XCOM 2. I've had my grenadier with an incendiary grenade mind controlled and then ordered to fire it straight into the big cluster of my own troops. Including the VIP. That was not a good day for my Strike Two team.

As usual, feedback is always appreciated! Reviews, PMs, anything, positive, negative, neutral, imaginary, real, polar- *whacked on the head by Yang* Okay, I'll stop there.


	7. 07 - Strike Six Reborn

"Dr. Vahlen, the last dose of nanosutures have been administered as requested,"

"Yes, yes. Very good. Bring me a wheelchair. I'll have to speak with our patient,"

Blake shivered on the operating table (chair?) that she was sitting in. There was a distinct lack of knives and other sharp, scary implements that she knew existed in hospitals and the like. Only vials of strange liquids in all colours of the rainbow seemed to exist in the Anthill's hospital, accompanied by an almost disturbing variety of needles of various shapes and sizes. Even now, a long, thin needle was in each of her thighs, light blue liquid slowly flowing into them from small drip bags attached to their other ends. Both her legs were covered in white casts from toe to just above her knees.

The stern face of Dr. Vahlen loomed in front of the cat faunus, and she had to resist an urge to shrink back into the chair. After spending an hour being treated for her injuries, the woman strongly reminded her of a harsher, more disciplined Ms. Goodwitch, with a less than healthy dose of patented Schnee iciness to bind it all into a truly terrifying package. "Now. You should consider yourself very, very lucky that you were not vaporised in that blast, Miss Belladonna. A single step closer, and you would have found yourself with no legs or arms,"

Somehow, that did not sound reassuring at all.

"Regardless, your injuries will heal in time. I won't ask how you managed to hold back the pain without anaesthetics, let alone stand when almost all of your lower leg bones have some kind of fracture. You are to remain still for at least a week while your bones knit together again properly. While the outer bone structure should be repaired enough to stand on at this moment, it is always better to avoid all risks where possible. You are excused from exercises and physical training during recovery. And missions too, of course,"

Nodding, Blake wistfully thought of the days that she had in Beacon. Scratches and bruises were common, of course; the nature of what they were learning made sure of that. Still, broken legs and arms were not very common at all. Their Aura usually made sure of that, preventing most serious injuries from happening.

Aura. She thought that the grenade's blast would simply throw her, and then she could get back up without a problem. But evidently, either her Aura was much weaker here, or the grenade was much more powerful than anything that she had ever seen before.

"...Are you still listening, Miss Belladonna?" Vahlen's sharp voice barked, and she found herself face to face with an irate doctor.

"Sorry. I was thinking about something,"

"Evidently, it must be more important than the details of what is required to properly heal your injuries," snarked the doctor, stepping back shaking her head, "As I was saying, you will require some mobility assistance. Rookie Xiao Long has volunteered for this duty for the next week,"

She nodded in acknowledgement. A wheelchair trundled in, with a smiling Yang behind its handles.

"Hiya, kitty cat! Feelin' better?" she said cheerfully, smirking when she noticed the faint twitch in Blake's eyes.

"...If anyone else called me that, I'd have punched them to the moon and back," Blake groused, "As for your question, yes, I am feeling _much_ better. Especially when my legs don't feel like they're about to break into a hundred pieces,"

"Awesome! Now, let's get you back to the others. I'm sure they're dying to see you back in the barracks,"

"Do try to be gentle with her legs, Miss Xiao Long. I'd rather not have her back in here in a few days if she ends up breaking her legs again," Vahlen said dryly, eyeing the rather rough way that Yang picked up Blake from the operating chair.

"No problems here, doc. Got her covered," replied the blonde, depositing Blake into the wheelchair as gently as a brawler could.

"We will see. First things first, she needs rest. Take her back down to the barracks, and make sure she is clean before she sleeps. The casts are waterproof, so you will have no need to give her a sponge bath,"

"Good as done!" Yang said, looking at an impassive Blake.

The faunus did not know what was more terrifying. The prospect of not being able to walk for a week, or the fact that she would be basically treated as Yang's pet cat for a week. Either way, she looked at Vahlen with pleading eyes, hoping that perhaps the doctor could come up with a quicker solution to her injuries.

Alas, no such mercy from the doctor, who only seemed to smile widely at her predicament.

* * *

Blake sat in her wheelchair, coming out of the showers with her hair hanging wet and limp, pressed flat against her back. Yang was pushing her from behind, a playful smile still plastered on her face. Two white towels were draped over one shoulder, along with a bag of dirty clothes hanging off the other. The soldiers in the common room nodded as they passed, though some of them wore knowing grins on their faces.

"See? That wasn't _too_ bad, was it?" Yang said to a mortified Blake, who groaned and cupped her face in her hands.

"Aside from you petting my ears every five seconds, talking as though I'm an infant, and generally treating me like a pet cat? No, it wasn't too bad. Not," she said icily.

"Aw, come on. Was it that bad, Blake?" replied Yang, clutching a hand over her heart and pretending to keel over.

The barracks common room had more people in it than before she entered the showers, but there were still plenty of empty seats around. A strange sight caught her eye, however; a slenderly-built woman and a gigantic man with unkempt brown hair that she recognised, both hunched over a low table while deep in thought. It was only when she drew closer that she saw a chessboard, with notably few pieces remaining on both sides.

"Hey, Papa Bear. What's new?"

The older man, still engrossed in the chess match, grumbled and looked up from his game. But as he saw Yang's broad smile, he gave the two of them a two-fingered salute. "Nice to see both of you still up on your feet. So to speak, of course," he said, nodding in Blake's direction, "Dr. Vahlen fixed you up, did she?"

"...I guess you could call it that? She just stuck needles in me and let some weird liquids drip into them,"

"Hah!" chuckled Papa Bear, "She used to have to fix us up the old-fashioned way at the start of the war. Scalpels, needles and thread. You're lucky that the good doctor managed to come up with those nanosutures from Thin Man venom,"

"She...what?" Blake mouthed in disbelief, her lips going dry. Medicine created from _poison_? Was that doctor insane?

"Yeah, yeah, it takes a little getting used to. Vahlen comes up with weird things every time we bring her an alien's corpse. I swear that woman can create almost anything if she had an endless supply of bodies to work with,"

"She makes things. From bodies," Yang repeated, not sure whether she was supposed to be impressed or disgusted.

"That's the short of it. I'm not even sure how she or her team of scientists do it. Miracles, I'd say, but I've never been one for staring at beakers all day," Papa Bear said, shrugging, "Anyway, I'd been waiting for the two of you for a while now. How do you feel after that mission?"

"I've felt better," said Blake, looking down at her legs, "Could be worse. At least I can still read...books,"

"Yes, Blake...'books'...totally 'fine literature' that you're reading, there. For women, of course," Yang said sarcastically, making air quotes with her fingers. Papa Bear looked at Blake's now-scarlet face and deathly glare at the blonde, and then at Yang's best impression of an innocent smile, before bursting into a deep, belly laugh. Even his opponent joined in, shaking her head in amusement.

"Senorita, you do not need to be embarrassed. Passion is something that is to be cherished, no?" the woman on the other side of the chessboard spoke, offering a reassuring smile to the cat faunus. She was tanned to a rich bronze colour, with cascades of dark chocolate hair that matched her warm, mischievous eyes. Tossing a thin lock of red dyed hair over her shoulder, she offered the two of them the same salute as Papa Bear, though with an added wink.

"Ohh, don't think I didn't see that," Papa Bear mock-growled, "Flirting with others again, Maria?"

"I call it...raising morale," Maria laughed. Rich pools of chocolate stared into lilac and gold. "My apologies. I am Lieutenant Maria de Cervantes, Strike One's resident medic. Or mischief-maker-in-chief, if you would listen to this old bear here,"

"I'm not deaf, you know," Papa Bear said, raising his voice and earning a laugh from her.

"I know, friend, I know," replied Maria. She stood up and walked up to Blake, whispering in her ear, "Well, if you need...fine literature...come find me when I'm not on a mission. I am certain that I may be able to find something in my miniature library for a...scholar of the passionate arts,"

Blake nodded stiffly, trying (and failing) to keep her emotions under control. It was one thing to run into someone who kept books of a more sordid nature, but another to have someone so _open_ about them. Her thoughts were very much conflicted; a part of her wanted to demand that Maria show her the stash now so she could have something to read and enjoy, while another part of her just wished that she could bury herself and not be seen for a good long while.

"Alright, I do believe this most adorable senorita had enough excitement for now. Any more of this and I might have to revive her after she passes out," Maria chuckled, "Oh, where are my manners. I have not even asked your names!"

"Yang Xiao Long,"

"I'm Blake. Blake Belladonna,"

"A name fitting to your interests, Miss Belladonna!" Maria said, winking suggestively, "And a pleasure to meet you, Miss Xiao Long. I trust that you will take _very_ good care of her in the future, will you not?"

The blonde smirked. "Oh, you bet I will,"

"Alright, Maria, your move," called Papa Bear loudly, jolting the brunette's attention back to the chessboard, "And you two better get back to your dorms. I'm not losing this one, distraction or no distraction. Get some sleep. I overheard earlier that Bradford and Shen want all four of you up in the armoury in eight hours,"

"Thanks, Papa Bear! Good luck beating Maria!"

He snorted. "Like I need luck to beat her! Thanks anyway, cub,"

* * *

"Huh, the lights are out, and the door's been locked. Rubes and Ice Princess are probably already asleep now," Yang thought aloud, trying the door to find that it wouldn't budge. "Guess we should get around to that soon, right Blake?"

The cat faunus nodded. "A warm bed sounds very attractive right about now,"

"Yup! Well then, let's get to it. Better not disturb those sleepyheads, though," Yang agreed, tapping her room keycard on the door's scanner. The door immediately slid open; the lights were dimmed to the point where it was difficult to even see the floor. Still, she managed to wheel Blake over to the side of her bunk. Sometimes it was good to have the bunk bed closest to the door.

Though the blonde could hardly see anything, Blake, with her cat faunus' nightvision, could clearly see inside. The six bunk beds inside looked normal enough; most of them were empty, two had blankets folded up neatly at the foot of their beds. One was occupied, with the top bunk-

Her eyes shot wide open when she noticed that Weiss' bunk was empty – and that Ruby's bunk had what looked like to be _two_ occupants in it under the blankets. One of them with dark brown hair with red tips – and the other with telltale cascades of silvery-white hair loosely spilling over the pillows.

 _Weiss, in Ruby's bed?_ She thought to herself, blushing at the many ideas running through her head. The youngest member of their team had her head buried in the crook of Weiss' neck, with Weiss resting her chin against the top of Ruby's head. If the raised outlines on the blanket were any indication, the two even had their arms pulling each other snugly together. The things that they could have been doing-

 _No, stop it, Blake. Ruby is too innocent for those sorts of things. Dust, I'm reading too many of those...books. But Yang needs to know about this. Ruby's her sister, after all._

"Uh...Yang?" said Blake quietly, pulling on the blonde's cargo pants. When their gazes met, Blake tipped her head in the direction of Ruby's bed.

"Yeah, kitty-cat? Something wrong with Ruby?"

"No...wait, I forget that you cannot see well in the dark," she muttered, shaking her head. "Turn on the lights, but stay quiet. I...think you need to see this,"

Curious about what Blake was trying to say, Yang walked over to the door and flipped the lights back on. What she saw when she turned around made her jaw drop.

Weiss.

In Ruby's bed.

Cuddling together, bodies flush against each other.

"What the fu-" she started to growl. She saw only red at that moment, wanting nothing more than to kick the ice princess out of her sister's bed – and probably through the ceiling, and the ceiling above that, too.

"Shh! Keep it down!" Blake hissed, throwing her pillow at Yang, smacking her square on the nose. The blonde glared back with red eyes, but Blake remained unfazed. "I don't think it's what it looks like,"

"Then what the hell is it?" hissed Yang back, pointing angrily at the two cuddling members of their team. Her free hand was clenched so tightly that her knuckles were white as bone.

"I don't know why exactly Weiss is in Ruby's bed, but I do think that if you really need to ask them about it, do it when they wake up," Blake stated calmly, "And don't even think about waking them up now. You've seen how Ruby was after that mission. She needs rest,"

"But..." Ruby _did_ appear far calmer than she had been after that battle, and she didn't have the heart to wake her sister up while she was sleeping that peacefully; ice princess in her bed or otherwise.

Shoulders slumping in defeat, she muttered angrily, "Ugh, fine! You win this time, ice princess. Let's get you in your bed, Blake,"

Blake nodded, lifting her arms so that Yang could lift her off her wheelchair and place her on the side of her bed. She shifted herself over to the centre of the bed, mumbling her thanks. Only when she tried to rest her head on a pillow did she remember that she had thrown it at Yang moments earlier; she ended up hitting her head on the steel bed frame with a dull thunk.

"Ouch. That looked like it'd hurt. Maybe a pillow works better than steel, yeah?" Yang said, tossing the pillow on the ground back to Blake. Or rather, _at_ Blake. "Catch!"

"Thanks, but no thanks," the faunus replied, catching the flying pillow before it would hit her face. She smirked when she saw the playful pout on Yang's lips. "You would not catch me off-guard. Not when I'm already looking at you,"

"Looking at me, hm? You like what you see?" Yang joked, to which Blake rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, you were really setting yourself up for that,"

"Yes. Yes, I suppose I did. I'd like to sleep, if that's alright with you. Please do turn off the lights,"

Yawning, Blake sat up and pulled her blanket over herself, careful to not disturb her casts too much. There was little more that she wished than to sleep at this time, to forget about the horrible things that she had seen earlier. But the lights had only dimmed and not turned off; and suddenly she found her bed creaking and tilting dangerously when Yang sat down next to her, with an unusually pensive look on her face.

"It's weird, isn't it?" Yang said softly. Her eyes were still looking in the direction of Ruby and Weiss, "I used to think that Weiss didn't like Ruby. Hell, the first day that they met in Beacon, Weiss looked like she was about ready to run my little baby sister through with that sword of hers,"

"And don't forget all the arguments that they've had in the first few months," added Blake sleepily.

"Yeah. Ruby only wanted to be her friend, and the ice princess just couldn't work the giant stick out of her butt for so long. Now look at them. Sharing a bed, and...well, Rubes isn't getting shouted at, or in any danger of getting stabbed by a long and pointy weapon,"

Blake nodded in agreement. "They have come a long way since they first met,"

"Yeah, they definitely have," murmured Yang. She shook her head and gave herself a sharp rap on the temples, "Geez, Yang, you don't even know if they're actually...ugh, get it together!"

"Maybe you should sleep as well. Think about it tomorrow,"

* * *

"Strike Six, please report to the armoury in half an hour. I repeat, Strike Six, please report to the armoury in half an hour,"

Weiss was not a morning person. She had never been a morning person, and would likely never be a morning person. Grumbling about unreasonably early hours, she slowly forced herself to sit up, reluctant to leave the comfort of the warm bed she was in.

Or rather, _tried_ to. A pair of slender arms were wrapped tightly around her waist. She could smell the faint scent of roses coming from the red-tipped dark hair that loosely framed the head resting against her chest. Only then did the memories of what happened last night come back to her, rushing back in one powerful wave. A small smile tugged at her lips as she absent-mindedly ran her fingers through the Ruby's hair, eliciting an indistinct sleepy mumble from the younger girl.

She had her reservations about sharing a bed with her team leader last night; but looking back, it wasn't such a bad arrangement after all. It _was_ the best, most restful sleep she had for as long as she could remember.

But a Schnee never turned her back on her duties, and as much as she longed to remain in the comfort of the bed, they had all been called to report in.

"Ruby, get up. I know you're awake; you heard that message," Weiss said, attempting to pry the girl's arms wrapped around her, only to have them latch on to her even harder.

"Weiiiiissss...a few more minutes..." whined Ruby, snuggling further into her reluctant human pillow's bosom.

Weiss flushed a bright scarlet as she was practically tackled back into the bed. _How dare she do this!_

"Ahem," Yang coughed. Both of the girls' heads shot up; Ruby blushed as she realised what she had done in her still somewhat sleepy state, while Weiss blanched at the sight of a furious Yang. Particularly her eyes, which were now a livid, blood-red hue. "Right. There's something that I need to know here, isn't there?"

Weiss gulped. If she did not make this convincing, she would certainly be paste on the wall before long. Perhaps truth was a better policy here, rather than trying to make something up. "She asked me to keep her company through the night-"

"And you think that means you gotta _sleep_ with her, huh?" Yang growled, stepping forward menacingly while cracking her knuckles, "Nice try, ice princess, but that's not going to be enough. Let's hear what Rubes has to say about it,"

"Yang, stop!" cried Ruby, sitting up, "She's done nothing wrong! I asked if she could sleep with me for the night to stop some bad dreams I had, and she said yes,"

Yang looked at her sister, and then at Weiss. Weiss had shrunk back against the wall behind the bunk bed, a faint sheen of cold sweat on her pale face. Ruby, on the other hand, had put herself directly between her and Weiss, a pleading look on her face. If Yang didn't know better, she would have thought that Ruby was only trying to cover for Weiss for some reason.

The things that she saw; the way they slept, pressed against each other; those cuddles; even the early-morning clinginess. Those were definitely some of the things she had read in some of Blake's dirty novels. And the more she thought about it, the less she wanted to know.

But her sister wouldn't lie to her. She never had; and probably not now, and not ever. Maybe Weiss was really only trying to help a teammate. Maybe there was nothing more that she saw. They were still fully clothed, after all, and nothing untoward could have happened to her innocent little sister.

"I had every intention of sleeping in my own bed until Ruby asked for help with her nightmare problem. That is all there is to it," Weiss said truthfully to Yang, whose glare seemed to soften when Ruby nodded vigorously to confirm what Weiss had said.

"Alright, Rubes. Alright. I'll drop it for now," she muttered, turning around and stalking off towards Blake.

The cat faunus had simply observed the entire exchange with interest, not saying a word as Yang lifted her back into the waiting wheelchair beside their bunk bed. She did, however, send them a knowing wink when Yang was grabbing Ember Celica and Gambol Shroud from her footlocker.

"We'll see you at the armoury, then. Don't take too long,"

When Blake and Yang left the room and the door had slid shut behind them, Weiss looked at Ruby. There was an odd expression on her face. A mixture of hurt, regret and sorrow. Expressions that did not belong on the cheerful, innocent girl that was their team leader.

"I'm sorry," Ruby said, looking at her with those damned adorable puppy-dog eyes.

"What are you even apologising for?" Weiss replied, raising one eyebrow.

"Yang's really mad at you for some reason. You were only trying to help...but..."

A strange surge of warmth ran through the normally frigid heart of the ice princess. A single tear rolled off Ruby's right eye; and despite the loud voice screaming in her head about how inappropriate it was, Weiss could not help but wipe it away with a finger, cupping Ruby's cheek to comfort her. The younger girl froze and looked at Weiss, silver eyes peering curiously into icy blue.

 _Dust damn it, Ruby. I shouldn't be doing this!_

"You dolt. Yang is only being protective about you because she cares a lot about you,"

"But I still got you in trouble with her,"

"And that trouble was worth it. If I didn't agree to it, you wouldn't be able to sleep. And if you couldn't sleep, then you'd keep the rest of us awake all night," Weiss said matter-of-factly, though her smirk was betraying her thoughts. It was the best sleep she'd had for as long as she could remember, after all.

The feeling of warm arms wrapped around her. The scent of roses. The gentle pressure of someone breathing softly against her chest. The pleasure of having someone that she trusted, melting in her embrace. The reassuring feeling that someone trusted her so utterly, that she could do that. Oh, how she wished she could remain in bed for an hour or two longer...

"...Weiss? Are you okay?" Ruby said, her hand waving in front of the heiress' eyes. She flinched at the sudden interruption of her thoughts. "Your face is red, and you were staring at a wall for a moment there. And you were smiling really weirdly,"

"I'm fine, Ruby. Just thinking," replied Weiss, brushing Ruby's hand away and schooling her face into a neutral expression. "We really should get moving. Yang and Blake are probably already waiting for us,"

"Okay, then. Uh...Weiss?"

"Yes, Ruby?"

"Could we...do this again sometime?" the younger girl said hopefully, her fingers fidgeting nervously, "I...I mean, if you don't mind,"

Weiss choked a little. "W-Well, let's see. I would risk being punched through the ceiling by Yang, then probably getting what remains of me to be burned to a crisp. There is a significant risk of grievous bodily harm, of the kind that might do some permanent damage. But...I'll think about it,"

"Aww," said Ruby, pouting, "So that's a no?"

"...I didn't say no, you dolt," Weiss muttered under her breath, freezing when Ruby immediately perked up again. "Y-you heard that, didn't you?"

"Yup!"

Weiss groaned, burying her face in her arms. Yang was _really_ going to kill her tomorrow.

* * *

Weiss and Ruby entered the armoury to find Blake and Yang already waiting for them. Dr. Shen was already there, as it was directly behind his workshop. But what surprised the two of them was the fact that Dr. Vahlen and Central Officer Bradford were there as well, along with Papa Bear. Noticing that Bradford was checking his watch, the two of them quickly walked to stand beside their two teammates.

"Good. All of you are here, ahead of time," Bradford spoke, pacing in front of them, "I have noticed your absence from the mission debriefing earlier. As you have wounded teammates that required medical attention, that requirement has been waived. In the future, however, I do expect that every member of the team that is not wounded be present for any and all debriefings that are required after an operation. Am I clear, soldiers?"

"Yes," they all replied, receiving an approving nod from Bradford.

"Very good. Now, the issue of ranks. Corporal Vargas has presented a most glowing report of your exemplary performance on field. While it is not necessary for us in mission control to hear reports to make such judgments, as we have our own telemetry to determine the performance of individuals, it is always good for squad cohesion to know that your brothers and sisters in arms have nothing but utmost respect for your abilities,"

Papa Bear nodded to each of them in turn, smirking when he saw Yang's prideful smile on hearing those words. Ruby, however, seemed a little upset. He made a mental note to talk to the girl after Bradford had finished his little presentation.

"Now that you have completed your first mission as operatives of the XCOM initiative, we believe that it is now time to assign you your specific classes, so that you may receive specialised training on how you could best support your squad's effort. We also believe that it is time to recognise the valour, bravery and skill that you have displayed thus far. Rookie Blake Belladonna, please step forward,"

Blake, being still wheelchair bound, was pushed forward by a smiling Yang. "Your uncanny ability to accurately detect the location of enemies purely by hearing is extremely valuable indeed. You showed great discretion when you had to check for enemies in a building with many elements of tall cover, preferring to remain silent and undetected while in cover. Had Sergeant Andersen has chosen to listen to your assertions that there were hidden enemies near that building, perhaps there would have been no loss of life,"

Dr. Shen stepped forward from beside Bradford, holding a small steel case. He opened it slowly, revealing a velvet-lined interior; inside were several cloth patches, and-

"Are those...what I think it is?" Yang whispered in awe, not believing what she saw.

"Scout Specialist Belladonna, ordinarily we would ask you to rise to receive your new rank; but seeing as you are currently wounded, we will excuse you from this duty," Shen said, offering the faunus a small smile. Bradford picked out a black cloth patch from the steel case, embroidered with a silver eagle inside a diamond, and attached it to the blank patch on her shoulder. He also pulled out another patch; this time, a black cat's-paw stylised into a nightshade flower was on it, which he handed to her.

Blake blinked as she looked at the patch. It was in the same shape as the other soldiers' national identity patches, but the emblem was the exact same as that which she had once had on her stockings. "How...how did you..."

"Disassembly of the stasis pods that we had found you in revealed some articles of clothing that were stashed inside hidden compartments at their bases. While they are too damaged to be worn or even repaired, we did find these designs that were attached to them," explained Dr. Vahlen, "We assumed that they held some significance to each of you, and would be best used as a substitute to our ordinary national identifiers,"

"...I see. Thank you, Dr. Vahlen,"

"Your appreciation is noted. Let us proceed,"

"Rookie Xiao Long. Your quick thinking in demolishing the wall to quickly reach the enemy when time was of the essence had saved the mission from failure. Had you not broken down the wall of the bookstore your squad had been taking cover in, there would have been no way to safely dispatch the sectoid commander. Your penchant for close combat has been noted...with some satisfaction, I might add," Bradford spoke with a hint of amusement, sharing a smile with Papa Bear, "Particularly in regards to subduing a sectoid commander with several punches that would rival that of a MEC trooper with a kinetic strike module. While it is not standard practice for rookies to engage in melee combat – and to be honest, for any non-MEC trooper to engage in melee combat – we feel that your talent for destruction would be wasted by putting you in the back lines,"

"Assault Specialist Xiao Long, please step forward and receive your new rank and identifier," Shen said. Like before, Bradford picked out another black patch, this time decorated with a silver skull on a diamond. She also received a rectangular identifier bearing the image of a flaming heart in gold, matching the colour of her hair.

"You may both return to your lines. Now, the next...Rookie Schnee, please step forward,"

"Rookie Schnee. While you have not fired a single shot at the enemies for the duration of that mission, your ability to produce cover where there is none has been noted. You have also shown great loyalty to your squadmates, providing protection for them without regard to your own safety. While we hope that putting yourself at unnecessary risk will not be something that is repeated, the gesture of loyalty has been noted. Providing cover elements for your allies is as important as destroying the enemy's own cover, and is not something that is often done by one who seeks blood as much as they seek to protect their allies. Owing to your display of loyalty, we feel, therefore, that your talents lie in providing battlefield support to your teammates, whether it is by disrupting the enemy's ability to fight or bolstering your allies' ability to fight,"

"Engineer Specialist Schnee, please step forward and receive your new rank and identifier,"

Yet another black patch came out of the box, this one with the emblem of calipers surrounded by a diamond. On another patch, she sighed in relief as she received an all-too-familiar identifier; the snowflake of the Schnee family. Even a little semblance of familiarity was welcome news to her in a world that seemed so strange.

That left only Ruby to receive her promotion. Nervously, the girl looked at her squadmates for reassurance. Blake gave her a nod, Yang offered a thumbs-up, while Weiss offered her a smile.

"Rookie Rose, please step forward,"

Gulping, Ruby moved forward. She felt the eyes of everyone on the room. Whether they were judging her, she did not know; but the uncomfortable prickling feeling on the back of her neck did not fade away. Especially when Bradford started to pace about in front of her.

"When I first met you after Dr. Vahlen managed to safely resuscitate you, I had my doubts about your abilities," he started to speak, a sharp glare still on her, "Whether you were telling tall tales about childhood adventures, made more...grand...so that we would be impressed. If it were not for Dr. Shen's vehement recommendations that you be given a chance to prove yourself, I would have rather kept you in the brig. But evidence speaks otherwise, doesn't it? Two aliens on your first mission, behind tall cover. One killed by a clean headshot, the other critically wounded after you had been put under the debilitating effects of a mindfray. All while barely steadying your rifle. Incredible,"

She blushed in embarrassment at the strange praise that Bradford was giving her. It was unusual for the normally stern and reserved man to do so. Even more unusual was when the corner of his lips quirked into a thin smile.

"Like your other friends, I believe that you are ready for a promotion. Any other class other than sniper would be a waste of your talent in putting precision fire downrange. However, as Strike Six now has enough personnel to count as a half-strength squad, or a full fireteam, this brings up the question of who would become leader,"

"Well, that's easy enough. She was our leader back at Beacon," Yang said loudly, ignoring the withering glare that Dr. Vahlen shot at her.

"Specialist Yang, while your trust in her is appreciated, please do be quiet until I finish," Bradford spoke, shaking his head in disapproval, "I had briefly considered Specialist Schnee for some time, as her loyalty to her teammates was clearly visible during that mission. However, it takes more than loyalty to lead a team. There is the certain ability to bind different people together to a cause, regardless of their personalities or beliefs. There is also the ability to instil confidence in others, and a desire to do what is right by the entire squad, without regards to what one might want for oneself. These are not traits that are easily found. But I do believe that you, young lady, have displayed those, thus far,"

"Uh...how?" Ruby asked in surprise. Getting picked by Professor Ozpin as a team leader was already weird enough. To her, this now felt as though it was a strange repetition of events.

"You managed to calm Specialist Yang down from her rage in the prison cells. And despite your...less conventional methods of leading, you did manage to convince your team to follow you, even if the idea of joining the XCOM initiative was only yours to start with,"

"Wow. I should just call a vote then whenever I want to be a leader!" Yang joked, laughing weakly.

"He does have a point, though. We always have followed Ruby, haven't we?" Blake conceded, nodding to the brunette in the front.

"I suppose that is true. Even if sometimes her ideas are a bit ridiculous, she's always gotten us to follow along with it," sighed Weiss, recalling the numerous misadventures that the team had in Beacon.

"Then my point stands. As a strike force cannot be reactivated without a leader, I am hereby forgoing the usual progression of rank, and giving Rookie Rose the rank of corporal. Congratulations on your promotion, Sniper Corporal Rose,"

Her blush deepened as Yang cheered and clapped, echoed by a most amused Papa Bear; and soon Blake and Weiss joined in, though more reservedly than the other two. The applause halted when Bradford motioned for them to settle down, at which point he presented her with a black patch with a set of crosshairs in a diamond, with a single bronze bar sewn on the lower end of the patch. However, even Ruby gasped when he picked out a silver brooch from the box in Dr. Shen's hands; the rose emblem engraved on it was clear for all to see.

"I do believe this belongs to you," Bradford said, placing the brooch in the stunned girl's hands, along with an identifier patch, "Now, on to other matters. As you are no longer rookies, you are permitted to take what equipment you deem necessary to the field. This means that if you felt the need to use a sniper rifle on the front lines, you may do so, though I do question the wisdom of doing that. Corporal Rose, if you desire guidance with leading a squad, I have assigned Colonel Magnusson as your mentor. He is one of our most experienced field operatives, and no doubt has much to teach you. That concludes all that I need to speak with you about today; you may return to your usual duties. Dismissed!"

The man snapped off a quick salute before turning on his heel and stalking out of the door. Dr. Vahlen then turned to face Weiss, her eyes bright with curiosity. "I should like to know how you managed to create those barriers during that mission. If you have some spare time between missions, please, by all means come and see me. I would like to run a few experiments,"

"I would have to...decline for now," Weiss said, uncomfortable with how eager the woman seemed to be. Doubly more so when she mentioned 'experiments'.

"How unfortunate. Well, the offer still stands," she huffed in response, nodding a farewell to each of them before leaving for her lab.

Only Dr. Shen and Papa Bear remained behind. "Well then," Shen started, smiling, "Shall we start on procuring some custom equipment for you all?"

"I've been waiting for you to say that for some time! When can we get the good stuff?" Yang exclaimed excitedly, much to the amusement of Papa Bear.

"In time, cub. All of you, go back down to your dorms and grab your own weapons. Then come back here, and we'll see who's actually got the _good_ stuff,"

"Oh, is that a challenge I hear? You're on!"

* * *

A/N

Ruby: My gun is bigger than yours! -proceed to have a competition about who has the most overcompensating weapon ever made-

Weiss: It's not the size, but how you use it. -shot-

Yang: Get a handle on it first- -slashed-

Blake: ...(sigh)

As usual, feedback is appreciated. Questions, suggestions, reviews both positive and negative? I'm all ears! (gets smacked by Blake) Ouch.

Next: Problems with Dust (or lack thereof).


	8. 08 - The Dust Problem

Shen looked over the weapons that Strike Six had brought back to the armoury. Collapsible weapons were not a new concept, having come about from the necessity of moving weapons in a more compact form; but the sheer audacity of having a weapon with multiple functions in a single package? It was either lunacy or brilliance, though the practical engineer in Shen insisted that it was the former. After all, who would willingly design a sniper rifle to double as a melee weapon? A scythe, no less!

"So I see that it can act as a monopod," Shen murmured, looking over Crescent Rose. Ruby had extended it to its full, razor-sharp glory, demonstrating how the blade could be used to steady the rifle's considerable recoil, "It is a...unique approach. I suppose we have never considered combining a bayonet and a monopod as practical. With such a large calibre, I do find myself wondering how you absorb the recoil,"

"Oh, that's simple," Ruby said proudly, pointing at the Crescent Rose's fully extended stock, "There's a triple gas buffer in the stock. It's enough to take most of the kick, but it still can throw people off when they're not used to it. There's also a muzzle brake integrated into the scythe,"

"Very interesting! I also would think that the weapon's mass itself would lend some stability,"

"Yup! Hey, what do you think of..."

Weiss tuned out of the conversation between Shen and Ruby, rolling her eyes. Considering the amount of knowledge that Ruby had concerning firearms and weapons in general, the two could likely talk for hours on end without exhausting even a fraction of the topics that they knew about.

"A penny for your thoughts, cub?" Papa Bear chuckled, noticing Weiss' bored expression.

"My thoughts? I'm only thinking that if we allow Ruby to continue talking with Dr. Shen, it's likely that we would end up getting nothing done,"

The man chuckled, clapping a hand on her shoulder. "If there's one thing that you should respect, it's the ability for someone to take care of their own equipment. But I wonder if she can actually use that the way she says she can. God, that thing is probably bigger than she is when it's fully unfolded!"

"I do wonder sometimes as well," Weiss replied, looking at how Ruby now had the scythe's blade extended to the point where it could be almost used as a spear, "It's not very elegant, is it?"

"Elegant? That's a quality you look for in your weapons?"

She looked at Myrtenaster and picked it up, examining its blade. Satisfied that it was free of chips and nicks, she picked up a fire dust canister from a nearby workbench, slotting it into one of the revolver rapier's dust magazines. "Sometimes it's not the size of the weapon, but how you use it," she spoke, walking up to a booth on the firing range. "After all, in every sparring session, I've been able to beat her without ever taking a single hit. Blake and Yang are much more challenging opponents,"

Concentrating on the target dummy closest to her booth, the white-haired girl raised her rapier in a salute. _Left foot forward...but not that far forward. Back straight...blade out, ready to parry or strike,_ she thought to herself, closing her eyes, steadying her breathing.

"You seem sure of yourself, cub,"

 _Quick as the wind. Powerful as a blizzard. Thrust like a thunderbolt!_

With a flourish, she opened her eyes and raised a hand, conjuring an ice glyph in front of her. A shot of dust covered the blade of her rapier, and she thrust the weapon forcefully into the centre of the glyph. A thunderous blast echoed through the room when the glyph shattered on impact, releasing a blazing missile that streaked towards the target dummy, blasting it to bits of flaming scrap.

"Well now, that's certainly different," Papa Bear laughed, "Those floating things that you make, they don't only block bullets, do they?"

"It depends on what I want them to do. I could have them block strikes. I could stand on them. I could use one to speed myself up for a little while," she said, levelling Myrtenaster for another strike.

"Huh. Very interesting. I also noticed that you used that weird red dust before you attacked. Is that also part of it?"

Weiss nodded. The dust was indeed integral to the way her combat worked. It amplified the power of her glyphs many times over and altered their properties, enabling her to attack with whichever element she fancied. It was convenient for dealing with almost any kind of enemy, provided that she had an ample supply of the required Dust types.

Provided that she had a supply of Dust.

Her eyes widened as she realised the dire implications of her thoughts.

What her weapon used. What the rest of the team used. Dust-based munitions.

Dust was an unknown resource on this planet. She looked at the small cache of Dust rounds and Dust canisters on the workbench. There was only enough for a single mission. If these were all that were taken from the team when they had been abducted, then it would not be more than they needed for a single Grimm hunt.

"Something wrong with your ammunition?" Papa Bear asked.

"Yes- well, no, not exactly," she answered, removing the fire Dust from her rapier's cylinder, "There's nothing wrong with the ammunition. The problem is that this is all we have. We can't produce more of it, and I don't think there's even any on this planet,"

And without Dust, her team's weapons would be next to useless. They would be only useful as melee weapons.

"Look, cub. Why don't you talk to Dr. Vahlen about this? If she can come up with some weird all-curing medicine from lethal poisons, I'm sure she can recreate whatever it is that you use for your weapons. Right now, she's probably in her biolab,"

Weiss nodded slowly, frowning. Dr. Vahlen was not exactly the friendliest of people, though Papa Bear did have a point. If she could fix Blake's broken legs without any surgery required, then maybe she could think up of a solution to her Dust supply problems. Her thoughts, however, were interrupted by the thunderous report of Crescent Rose from the firing booth beside her.

"Ohh, sweetheart. How I missed you," Ruby cooed, stroking her scythe-rifle affectionately.

Even after a few months of living together in the same room, there were just some things that one could not get used to. Weiss decided that this was the best moment to leave the room before things got any weirder. Taking one of each canister of elemental dust, she quietly sneaked out of the room while every pair of eyes were still fixed on Ruby's odd ministrations to her beloved Crescent Rose.

* * *

"Dr. Vahlen. Specialist Schnee is requesting permission to enter your laboratory,"

"Permission granted. Five minutes,"

When the blast doors to Dr. Vahlen's biological research laboratory hissed open, Weiss found herself almost knocked out by an overpowering odour of antiseptic mixed with the sting of hard preservatives. A persistent, unpleasant hum filled the room from the numerous ventilation fans lining the ceiling, which seemed to be doing very little to put fresh air into the room.

Dread filled Weiss' heart when she walked further into the laboratory. It was impeccably clean, as would be expected of a research facility; yet its contents were disturbing beyond anything that she had ever imagined. Glass cylinders of various sizes contained alien body parts, suspended in sickly green liquids. She barely resisted vomiting when she saw what looked like two human hearts suspended next to each other, linked to the same arteries and veins; almost as though they were duplicated on purpose.

But what truly filled her with horror was the glass chamber in the far back of the lab. She could hear the shrill whine of a mechanical bonesaw being warmed up, before muffled tearing noises filled the air. Yellowish-green splotches of what could only be described as alien blood splashed against the inside of the glass chamber. Behind the glass, she could see several scientists in bulky rubber suits covering them from head to toe. They were cutting methodically into an alien that seemed to be a hulking mass of muscle, systematically removing organs and chunks of muscle and dropping them into marked cylinders similar to those that she had seen before.

"Dr. Vahlen will be with you shortly," a scientist outside the room said to her, "She won't take too long in decontamination,"

"Very well...thank you," Weiss muttered, clapping a hand to her mouth when a wave of nausea hit her.

Sure enough, the stern-looking woman emerged from an airlock on the side of the autopsy chamber within a minute. She looked at Weiss up and down once, as if confirming that it was her.

"Oh, good. Have you reconsidered about the experiment I proposed earlier?" she said nonchalantly, approaching the heiress.

"If you meant the experiment about finding out how I can create glyphs," Weiss replied, staring at the rather messy dissection happening to her right, "...I'd prefer to remain in one piece, thank you very much,"

Dr. Vahlen followed Weiss' gaze and then baulked, holding up both hands and shaking her head vigorously. "Goodness, nothing of the sort. If we dissected our own personnel, I would have a mutiny in my laboratory in no time. That is, if the rest of the XCOM operatives haven't broken down the lab doors and shot me first. But yes, have you reconsidered participating that experiment that I have talked about?"

"No, not yet. But there is something else that I think you can help me with," Weiss said, holding up a canister of fire Dust, "I need to find a way to make more of this,"

Vahlen walked towards Weiss, examining the glass canister closely. "If that is what I think it is – the volatile powder that we had found with your weapons – I am afraid that I have already examined it. Every single kind. I have cross-checked every chemical database that I am aware of, and there is nothing with even remotely similar properties to it,"

"So...you're saying that there's no way to make more of this?"

"At this point in time, I highly doubt that there will be in the immediate future," declared the doctor, "While the amount of energy it releases is very impressive, we simply do not have enough of it to warrant further research. It would be different, however, if we had some way of procuring more of it,"

Weiss huffed in exasperation. "Which is not going to happen, is it?"

"Unless the aliens find some reason of bringing more specimens from your homeworld, then yes, that would be an accurate assumption,"

Her face fell. Perhaps there were some things that just wouldn't work out, no matter how hard one tried. She looked sadly at the rapier hanging at her hip. As long as there was a shortage of ammunition, she couldn't risk taking her precious Myrtenaster along for a mission. Being caught without a supply of Dust in the wilderness was no idle threat for even veteran huntresses; many had died to a Grimm when they could no longer fight back effectively. With their Aura only partially effective against the aliens' weaponry – and even their personal Semblances significantly more draining than it ever did – perhaps they needed to learn how to fight as the other soldiers did, after all.

"Dr. Vahlen. The workshops are requesting any spare elerium crystals that we have for making some plasma rifles," one of the lab assistants called out from behind a trolley loaded with extracted alien parts, "Should we send them our remaining ones?"

"I didn't think that we had any left in our storage. If they must have it, then by all means, have them sent," she said, waving him off.

"Elerium crystals? Can I ask what those are?" Weiss asked, her interest piqued.

"Elerium. Element 115," sighed Vahlen, "If it existed on earth, fossil fuels would have become outdated in less than a decade. It produces incredible amounts of energy when exposed to heat or high-velocity particles. Unfortunately, we've only been able to acquire it from alien ships that have landed or been shot down,"

"Could I see a sample?"

"I suppose there's no harm in knowing what it looks like," the doctor said, putting a hand into her lab coat's pocket, pulling out a shining blue crystal contained in a thick glass vial that was heavily reinforced with steel webbing and handing it to Weiss. It was absolutely minuscule; the heiress' little finger would be larger than the tiny sample inside. But the crystal's shape – its colour, its weight. Everything about it was familiar to the heiress.

After all, she had seen samples of virtually every product that her family produced.

"This resembles a raw Dust crystal...but different, somehow," Weiss murmured, examining the sample in her hand, "The faces are too regular, too smooth. Too perfect,"

"That was what some of my colleagues also believed. These look too perfect to be anything but manufactured. But you said that it resembles...raw Dust? I assume that Dust is the volatile powder that you and your friends use as ammunition?"

Weiss nodded. "The Schnee Dust Company offers Dust for almost every requirement of life. Fuel for heating and cooling. Energy for lighting and personal devices. And of course, munitions for combat," she said, reciting the oft-repeated marketing spiel that her father was so fond of.

"Hmm. Perhaps it may be worth investigating if there is any link between Dust and elerium, given the similarities in both their use and their appearance. But that idea must wait. Now, if you would return my elerium sample?"

Reluctantly, Weiss handed over the glowing crystal back to Dr. Vahlen. "It's a very interesting specimen," she commented, to which the scientist nodded briefly.

"Indeed it is. Now, if you aren't here to assist with the rest of the autopsy, I would like you to remove yourself from the laboratory. The commander has requested that I complete this in six hours, and I cannot afford to waste any more time,"

* * *

After an hour of discussing wild ideas about weapons and modifications with Dr. Shen, Ruby returned to the barracks with a wide smile. Who knew that in other worlds, there would be someone with as much interest in weapons as she did? Within five minutes, the doctor had already pointed out areas where she could improve the weapon's melee capabilities, by redistributing the weight towards the front for greater momentum during strikes and for stability during shooting; and also by coating the blade with an ultrahard material and then honing it to a monomolecular edge with a precision laser. Of course, with the foundry workshop already fully booked out for at least four weeks, she had to wait her turn.

That did not, however, mean that her enthusiasm was any less. On the contrary, she was bounding up and down with excitement at the idea that her Crescent Rose could be improved at all!

"Now, now, Ruby. You do have other issues that are more immediate, don't you think?" Shen chuckled, shaking his head in amusement, "Your weapons – and those of your fellow squadmates – function on a completely different technological base than ours. Your Dust-based munitions are impossible to manufacture in this base, and the supply of those is very limited. You would need to resolve this issue before Officer Bradford would even consider allowing you to take your weapons to a mission,"

The brunette pursed her lips for a moment, thinking, before clicking her fingers. "Oh. That's easy enough!" she responded happily, "Got a list of standard ammunition calibres and cartridges? I could just pick those closest in dimensions and bore a few new barrels. Probably give them new magazines, too. Easy!"

"A good start, but you must keep in mind that Dust appears to be far more powerful than the propellant that we normally use in our weapons. If you tried to fit a...shotshell...that would fit into Ember Celica's magazine, for example, I highly doubt that the recoil would be sufficient to load the next shell,"

"Oh," she said, looking down. She didn't consider that. "Dust does blow up really well, yeah. Hey, how about giving the shells a new propellant?"

"A small high explosive charge could work in a reinforced steel casing, but you would have to be very careful about the quantity that you load,"

"Alright! That's the problem solved!"

"Well, then you know what you need to do. My personal workshop has the equipment needed to do those modifications. You will not need to use the Foundry to make something like that," Shen said, checking his watch. "Ah, but it appears that I am needed somewhere else at this time. Breakfast calls, and it seems that both Miss Xiao Long and Miss Belladonna have gone ahead without us,"

Her stomach rumbled. "Yeah, breakfast sounds like a good idea. I'll see you there, Dr. Shen!"

As she turned to collect Crescent Rose from the equipment workbench, she noticed that Weiss was now standing at a shooting booth. But Myrtenaster was on the same workbench as Crescent Rose was, which confused Ruby. Everyone knew that Weiss would never be parted from her rapier if at all possible; it was kept in its sheath under her pillow while she slept, and she had even taken it into the bathroom whenever she had to take a shower. So why did she leave it alone?

She noticed that there was a heavy-looking revolver held in the white-haired girl's right hand. Her aim was unsteady, and her arm was trembling, not used to wielding a weapon of that size and weight.

"Weiss?" Ruby asked, worried for her friend. There was no response other than a slight stiffening of her back. A thunderous muzzle blast came from her revolver; a streak of golden-yellow shot past the target dummy, smashing into the clay backstop.

She fired one shot after another, emptying the cylinder. Not a single one touched the target dummy. Wordlessly, she reloaded the pistol with trembling fingers. Again, she raised the pistol and fired all six shots. Not a single hit. On the next round, however, her hand lost its grip after firing, causing the pistol to fly backwards and land on the floor with a clatter. She fell to her knees, clutching her wrist.

"Weiss!" yelped Ruby, dashing over to the white-haired girl.

"I'm fine. It's just a little sore," huffed the heiress, "I didn't think that firing a pistol would be that difficult,"

"It's your first time using one, isn't it? Of course it'll be hard. Why not use Myrtenaster, like you normally do?"

"And proceed to run out of ammunition?" countered Weiss, glaring at Ruby, "That would not be a very good idea. I talked to Dr. Vahlen earlier about making more Dust. It's not possible, which means that we've got a very limited supply,"

"We can just modify it,"

"Oh, I've heard. I was listening to your conversation with Dr. Shen," Weiss said bitterly, standing up and picking up the fallen revolver, "Modify the weapons so that we can use their ammunition. That, unfortunately, will not work with Myrtenaster,"

"Why not? I'm sure we can,"

"Because, you _idiot_ , there IS no way to change it to fire a bullet!" she all but screamed at Ruby, who shrank away at the heiress' sudden outburst, "Do you see a barrel? A stock? A magazine? No, you don't, do you? It's not a gun. It wasn't ever meant to be a gun! It-"

"Enough of this, cub!" roared Papa Bear, stomping over to the arguing pair, "I've heard enough. I've heard from Blake and Yang that a huntress makes her own weapons, and that it's theirs for life. I get that you're attached to your damn rapier. I get that it's not a gun, and won't ever be one like the other weird weapons that your teammates have. Does that give you the right to scream at your team leader?"

"Well, I was-"

"Let me reword that. Does that give you the right to scream at your _squad commander_ , Specialist Schnee?" he growled, making sure that he used her formal title. She gulped and shook her head; the man had more fury than Miss Goodwitch on a bad day when he was annoyed. "I have not heard a response yet, Specialist Schnee! Answer me properly, or I'll damn well make you do latrine duty for a _month_!"

"No, sir," she quietly said. When she noticed that his eyes continued to narrow on her, she spoke a little louder, "No, sir, it doesn't,"

"Good. Get that damn head of yours screwed on right," Papa Bear sighed. His expression was softer, but there was a certain disappointment in his eyes that shamed her. "Corporal Rose was kind enough to assist with your problems. She doesn't have to. She could just order you to take a gun from the armoury and use it, whether you liked it or not. If this is how you respond to her, I wonder whether I made the right decision asking her to take care of her guardian angel,"

Weiss remained silent, looking at the floor in shame. She had half a mind to apologise to Ruby; yet her pride as a member of the Schnee family urged her to never back down.

"Weiss..." Ruby said slowly, reaching for her free hand. Only to have her hand batted away by Papa Bear.

"No, Corporal Rose. Stand down. If you will not discipline a squadmate that has stepped out of line, then I will do it,"

"Okay...sorry,"

"You have nothing to apologise for. This young lady, however, does. Whether she does or not is up to her. But let me tell you both this. Do not regret anything you do in your life, and do not do anything that you would ever regret," he said harshly, though without malice, "Now, enough of this nonsense about weapons that you can't use. If you are so concerned about how you would change your personal weapon to suit your new environment, perhaps you need to change yourself to suit a new personal weapon. Remember that there are at least two fine weaponsmiths in this base,"

Weiss gawked despite herself. That was such a simple solution. Hunters and huntresses created their personal weapons, with or without the aid of others. That was a given. But nowhere in their traditions did it say that they were limited to _one_ personal weapon – only that it was the norm. She looked at the revolver in her right hand. It was bulky and heavy; and although it was elegant in its form, she felt that perhaps the handle and frame was too large for her hand. The mouldings on its grip did not align with her slender fingers, being made for the much larger hand of another man.

This was someone else's weapon. Not hers.

"Bah. Too early for a counselling session. I'm going to need several cookies and a cup of coffee," grumbled Papa Bear, shaking his head and turning for the door, "When you two are done putting this crap behind you, I want you both to see me at breakfast. I'll be waiting,"

Weiss turned to face Ruby. She knew what she had to say; a single word, a very simple word – yet one that always had a very difficult time rolling off her tongue. The door behind her hissed and slammed shut, indicating that Papa Bear had left for breakfast; the silver-eyed girl remained in front of her, looking into her eyes with an odd mix of hurt and expectation.

Perhaps, she thought to herself, it would be best to let go of her pride for the time being. Ruby was only trying to help, after all.

Just like last time. And every other time, ever since they met at Beacon.

"I'm...sorry. For being difficult," she sighed, bowing her head. She felt a pair of arms wrap around her midsection, and a hand gently patting her back.

"That's not needed," she heard Ruby whisper into her ear, "I'd be mad too if I couldn't use Crescent Rose. But I really do want to help, you know? It's kind of hard when you won't let me, and when you're mad at me for some reason. Now, let's make you a new personal weapon!"

 _Dust damn it, you adorable ball of energy. How can anyone resist you,_ Weiss thought to herself, returning the hug in earnest. "Fine, you dolt. Let's get started,"

* * *

"Alright. That should do it!" Ruby cheerfully said, tightening the last screw on the weapon that she had just finished crafting. "Here, Weiss! It's all yours,"

The white-haired girl gingerly took the bluish-silver revolver from Ruby's hands and gasped in surprise at just how light it was, and how comfortable it felt. The plastic grip was moulded to match her right hand's grip with the help of Dr. Shen, which helped to keep the weapon stable in her weaker hand. The barrel of the pistol was rather long; almost a quarter of Myrtenaster's length, with a large suppressor further extending it. A long, narrow blade formed an integrated bayonet on its underside, tapered to a needle-like point on the tip.

Dr. Shen had offered to lend them some leftover scraps of what he called 'alien alloy', curious to see what Ruby could do with it. The things that she did – creating components and parts with incredible speed and precision – was something that the doctor had never seen before. The only thing he had to offer was general guidance on how to balance and construct such a unique weapon, as the brunette seemed to have a keen knowledge on the manufacture of weapon parts. While he doubted that the weapon would ever become commonplace in XCOM due to its esoteric nature, he had to admit that its creation was truly mentally stimulating.

"Alright. I believe that would be everything that should be required. Let's see how it performs," Dr. Shen said, nodding to both of the girls, "I recall that the other revolver's rounds were of the same calibre,"

"Yep! Go on, Weiss!"

The heiress nodded with a smile as she collected six rounds from beside the old revolver sitting on the workbench and slotted them into her new revolver's cylinder. Taking aim at the nearest target dummy, she breathed out slowly.

 _Feet forward. Not that far forward. Shoulders relaxed._

 _Strike._

An ear-splitting blast rang throughout the room when Weiss pulled the trigger. The target dummy's head exploded into a hundred tiny fragments. In disbelief, she took aim at it again, and fired another three shots. Two blasted clean holes through the dummy's chest, while the third carved a ragged gash on its arm. Even after firing four shots, her hand remained firmly seated in the weapon's grip, not even the least bit sore.

"Ruby! It works!" she squealed, all decorum momentarily forgotten in her excitement, "I have a weapon again!"

"I knew you could do it!" cheered Ruby, "Do you have a name for it yet?"

"No, not yet. Let me think, you dolt," she said, still grinning in glee, "I think I'll call it...Wisteria,"

"A beautiful name," Dr. Shen commented, approaching the two, "Congratulations, to both of you. If you wish to use my workshop again, Ruby, feel free to do so. I must admit that I am most entertained by watching the speed and precision at which you work,"

"Thanks, Dr. Shen," the younger girl said, beaming, "Now, let's get back to practice!"

* * *

A/N

A bit of a filler chapter this time. When you can have all the Dust you could ever want in Beacon, sometimes it takes a massive shortage to just alert you to how precious it really is...

playwars:

It will follow a large part of XCOM:EW, yes. That being said, I don't have the Zhang DLC, so I can't exactly write about that one. And yes, there will obviously be story mission chapters, as there will be changes to how those pan out.

Exalt being rather parallel to the white fang, it'd be an injustice to not have them.

Characters -do- have their semblances, but they're not as readily available as on Remnant.

Next: The girls finally realise the true meaning of terror - and what defending the people actually means.


	9. 09 - Operation Winter Soldier

A week passed, and Blake was finally back up on her feet, no longer bound to a wheelchair. Ruby, too, had finally been coaxed to seeing Dr. Vahlen for treatment regarding her exposure to a sectoid's mindfray. But the doctor, instead of prescribing her medicines as Papa Bear had predicted, simply told her to spend more time with those that she cared about, stating that a positive mood was all that was actually needed to repair the damage caused by a mindfray. Which, naturally, led to one member or another being dragged down to the armoury for long, delightful chats about weapon systems on a daily basis.

Yang, as much as she loved her sister, would never willingly go with her, knowing that she would likely fall into a catatonic state simply listening to her natter on about guns for a whole day. So when Papa Bear invited her to some supplementary physical training sessions (with some hand-to-hand sparring), she naturally jumped at the chance.

Blake simply refused to go along, stating that she simply wanted to read. Specifically, reading the books that Maria had offered in Strike One's dorms. Which, it seemed, Strike One's resident medic was all too happy to allow her to read.

Which left Weiss as the sole candidate for listening to Ruby. Unable to make up any valid excuses, she resigned herself to accompany the hyperactive girl in whatever she had planned. Not that she particularly hated the idea of following her, of course; extra exercise did not particularly appeal to the heiress, and while she wished to research the link between Dust and elerium, Dr. Vahlen was far less approachable than Dr. Shen when it came to usage of their respective facilities. At least if she could direct Ruby into creating or modifying weapons, she could convince herself that they were being productive.

Things remained quiet, at least for a while. Satellites reported no UFO sightings anywhere in the world, which to most of XCOM was welcome news. But none of the command officers were as relaxed as the operatives. After all, one must maintain constant vigilance against an enemy of unknown capabilities and numbers, as to let one's guard down for even a brief moment was to invite disaster.

Which proved itself true not too long after, when all hell broke loose. Alarms blared in mission control when several alien ships were spotted all over the world, forcing officers to scramble interceptors from every single one of the XCOM airbases. One particularly large signal hovering over Asia caught Bradford's eye, however.

One hovering over the capital city of Japan.

"Shit," he cursed, reaching for the microphone on his collar.

* * *

"Strike One, Strike Six, report to the hangar immediately for deployment!" Bradford's voice shouted through the speakers in the barracks, "Code red. I repeat, Strike One, Strike Six, report to the hangar immediately for deployment!"

"You heard the man! Get a move on! Throw on that armour, _now_!" bellowed Papa Bear from outside Strike Six's room, banging loudly on their door, "Haul ass to the hangar, on the double!"

"What's going on?" Ruby asked nervously, sliding off her bed. Blake was already up and armoured, helping Yang put on her equipment. Weiss was ready as well, having just come back from target practice, both Wisteria and Myrtenaster on her belt.

"I don't know, but we'll find out when we get there. Come on, dolt, hurry up!" Weiss grumbled, opening up Ruby's footlocker and helping her throw on her armour.

With the urgency of the matter, their entire team was already in the hangar within two minutes. Papa Bear was already there, pacing in front of the other seven members of his team, who stood at attention with their weapons already in hand. Their armour was very, very different to what the others wore on the base. These were smooth and elegant, as though they had been contoured to fit the body shape of the user; with the exception of two MEC troopers, who were in their intimidating mechanised combat suits, carrying enormous railguns. All of them, however, shared the keen eyes of those that had seen much combat – and lived to tell the tale.

"There you are, you four! Get in the Skyranger, on the double!" he barked out, all trace of joviality gone, replaced by a look of cold fury in his eyes. "We've got a terror mission on our hands, and time is ticking!"

"Terror mission?" asked Ruby, her hand tightening around Crescent Rose's grip as they all boarded the Skyranger.

" _Si, senorita_. Terror mission," Maria said darkly, idly checking the numerous medical kits on her utility belt, "The _cabrones_ are attacking a major city. They don't have the _cojones_ to directly attack us, so they're attacking innocent civilians to try and beat a country to submission,"

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's give them a knuckle sandwich," Yang growled. Weiss, on the other hand, paled and clenched her teeth, her knuckles tightening on the grip of her rapier.

The Skyranger's ramp sealed and they felt the familiar lurch as the vehicle shot forward. Once they were in the air, Papa Bear stood up and activated the holoscreen at the front of the troop compartment.

"Alright, listen up! As you all know, we've got a terror mission on our hands. Normally, only Strike One would be sent to finish a job like this; but our satellites' thermal sensors are reporting a far larger than usual concentration of aliens. So for today, we've got four members of Strike Six joining us,"

Each of the other members of Strike One nodded in acknowledgement to the girls, who sat still, unsure of how to respond.

"Ground reports suggest that we've got a platoon strength alien force in the AO, and that local law enforcement and military forces are eliminated until reinforcements come. That means no matter what, we stick together. We work together to eliminate targets, one at a time. No heroics, no theatrics, no goofing off,"

The screen switched to show a city wreathed in smoke. Many of the buildings had been set ablaze by an enormous alien ship in low orbit, which was still raining down massive blasts of green plasma onto anything that moved. Occasionally, an apartment tower would come crashing down, scattering flaming debris onto the streets below. The girls, having never seen destruction on this scale, covered their mouths in horror; the veterans simply bowed their heads and whispered a quick prayer for those who had fallen.

"Our objective is to eliminate alien ground forces in the city of Tokyo. While I know that all of Strike One is familiar with the enemies we may face on the ground today, for the benefit of our newcomers, we will cover basic information on the enemy species that may pose significant threat to us,"

A four-legged insectoid creature appeared on screen. Thick plating covered its body from head to toe, while each of its legs resembled razor-sharp scythes made of bone. Two arms, also resembling even larger scythes, hung above the ground, dripping with green venom. A vicious array of jagged teeth filled its spiked mandibles, giving the creature a hellish appearance.

"This is a chryssalid. One of the nastiest, most vicious creatures ever known to mankind. Introduced, of course, by your one and only cowards in the sky," growled Papa Bear, barely concealed hatred in his eyes, "They don't have much of a brain. They don't hide, they don't run away. Their claws are sharp and hard enough to carve through steel, and covered in acid strong enough to vaporise armour plating. Their only purpose is to kill and reproduce on the battlefield,"

"Reproduce? What do you mean by...reproduce?" Weiss asked.

"Whatever you do, do not let them get close to you. Because the way chryssalids make more babies is by making out with a body,"

The screen cut out again to a surveillance feed of a chryssalid advancing on a cowering civilian. Strike Six let out a collective gasp when the creature impaled the woman through her chest with both claws, and then proceeded to clamp its jaws over her mouth. It then allowed the lifeless body to drop on the ground, skittering off to find another victim.

"Let's fast forward, shall we?" Papa Bear muttered. The corpse of the woman stood up again, hunched over with its arms dangling limply at its sides. It then shambled around aimlessly; within a few minutes, however, it burst open, revealing a pale chryssalid that had apparently been developing in its chest cavity.

"I think...I'm going to be sick," Weiss groaned, standing up and running for the bucket in the back of the skyranger. Blake and Yang's faces were rather green, while Ruby had buried her face in her hands, unwilling to watch.

"So, to make sure that doesn't happen to any of you; stick together, and whatever you do, do NOT attempt to engage a chryssalid at close range. While Strike One's armour is reinforced to withstand three or four swings of those things, yours isn't. If you find one, return to us and we'll take care of it. Got it?"

"Yes," responded the other three members of team RWBY, while Weiss was busy emptying her breakfast into a bucket.

"Good. You want to see some more of the things that are going to be thrown at us?" Papa Bear said. When each of the girls shook their heads, he chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes, then,"

* * *

"We're approaching the AO. Be advised that the LZ is hot," Big Sky called over the plane's intercom.

Ruby chewed on her lip as she watched the holoscreen. It was currently displaying a burning city; the alien battleship had departed, but the alien threat still remained in the form of whatever it had dropped on the city. Every so often, she could see the green streaks of alien plasma flying through the air, smashing into buildings and igniting new fires. A tightness gripped her insides as she watched a civilian smash through the glass window of a skyscraper and fall like a rag doll on to the concrete pavement far below.

"This is just...it's like a Grimm attack, just...much more destructive," she whispered to herself.

"It is what the aliens do on these terror missions. Sufficient panic in a nation is enough to force their leaders to capitulate. Public rioting and disorder is more powerful than any invasion force," answered one of the veteran MEC troopers; Lieutenant Carson, if Ruby remembered correctly. "They spread terror by inserting many of their troops in densely populated urban centres, with the sole objective of murdering as many civilians as they possibly can. Men, women, children; old and young, it matters little to them,"

"Well, then we've got to stop them, right?"

"That would be correct. I assume that you now understand the importance of this mission, and why we must not fail,"

"Alright. If the LZ is hot, then that means we gotta jump," Papa Bear said brusquely, "Get your guns up, people, we're moving in thirty seconds. Big Sky, fire on any hostile targets near the LZ. We'll get off, and you get back in the air. Don't come back down until you see blue smoke,"

"Copy that, colonel. High explosives out,"

A series of dull thumps came from outside the ship, followed by several muted explosions. "Enemies on the LZ cleared. Be careful of X-rays still hanging around the place. Watch your backs out there, people; I'm setting this taxi down for a minute,"

The Skyranger's engines whined as the vehicle descended. The back ramp slowly dropped, allowing the operatives the first sights of a burning city. All grimaced as the acrid smell of burning rubber and plastic assaulted their noses, courtesy of the numerous burned-out hulls of cars piled up on the roads below.

The drop light on the sides turned green. "Go! Go! Go!" Papa Bear roared, prompting the MEC troopers to rush out first, one bulky arm held in front of each one like a shield, with three members of Strike One following each one. Ruby followed suit, Crescent Rose unfolded into its rifle form and scanning the buildings for enemy targets; her other teammates likewise had their weapons up and ready to shoot anything that looked like it was hostile.

"Central, this is Strike One. We've touched down on the AO, initiating Operation Winter Soldier,"

"We read you five-by-five, Strike One. Satellites detect a lot of moving heat signatures in your area. Watch your backs,"

Ruby took a good look around them. It appeared as though they were in some kind of shopping district; there were skyscrapers on either side of the road that they were in, thoroughly decked out in advertising displays of an almost psychedelic riot of colour. The pavement was covered in white snow, though there were occasionally bodies lying face-down in the slush, staining it red. Several alien pods lay in craters on the road, a reminder that there were still hostile creatures in the area.

Creatures. That was all these aliens were. Just like Grimm; only capable of bringing death and destruction to innocents.

"Lieutenant Carson. Lieutenant Wilson. Move forward and check that cafe for hostiles," Papa Bear ordered, "Rose. You're on overwatch. Anything hostile that moves, I want a bullet in its head. Rest of you, with me. Keep your guns up as we move forward,"

"Aye aye, sir!" they all chorused, moving forward as one.

The cafe had numerous tables flipped over inside. The kitchen was ablaze, with a few employees lying on the counter with holes blasted through their chests. There had to be at least a dozen lifeless bodies inside.

Blake sniffed once, and her ears flattened. The stench of death was strong – and yet, there was something else here. Other than burning corpses and those that were bleeding out. "I smell something in here. We're not alone,"

Papa Bear nodded, and then turned to one of the veterans. "Williams, battle scanner. Throw it into the middle of the cafe,"

The soldier named Williams nodded and unlatched a spherical object from his belt, and threw it on top of a table in the middle of a room. A white pulse shot out from it, illuminating the entire room; and sure enough, there was the outline of three sectoids in another room behind the kitchen, illuminated by the device's holographic projector.

"Lieutenant Carson. It's all yours,"

"With pleasure," she droned, lowering her particle cannon. "Target cover is thin concrete. Target is unaware. Probability of evasion is zero percent. Firing,"

For a few moments, Ruby thought that nothing happened when the MEC trooper held down the trigger on her massive cannon. Then she saw the faint red beam tracing a dot on the wall from the muzzle of the weapon – and the white sparks gathering around the air about the beam. A blinding white flash shot through the room, vaporising the wall behind the kitchen – and the wall on the opposite side as well.

"Target neutralised," she commented flatly, as though nothing had happened at all when a scorched sectoid fell to the ground. Ruby, taking her cue when the flash subsided, lifted Crescent Rose to her shoulder. A high-calibre sniper round sent a second sectoid flying through the air with a fatal wound in its gut. The sniper-scythe barked once more, and the third sectoid fell to the ground without a head.

"Fine shooting, Rose, Carson. Belladonna, any civilians in this building?"

Blake sniffed the air again. There was definitely the stench of urine in the air, mixed with sweat. And...

"Yes. Yes, there definitely is," she groaned, pinching her nose as she ran to a soft drink vending machine near the kitchen. Sure enough, there were three children hiding behind it; one of them had a very conspicuous wet patch on his pants.

"Hey!" she said, getting their attention. They looked at her with a mix of fear and uncertainty. "You're safe now, get over there!" she said to them while pointing at Papa Bear. Slowly, they looked at each other, before the oldest one – a girl that could not have been older than twelve – nodded. " _Arigato, onee-san!"_ she said, taking the hands of both of the boys beside her and running towards Papa Bear.

"Good work finding the civilians, Belladonna. If the Skyranger were still on the ground, we'd normally just send them there. But this is slightly different, so...Carson, Wilson. You're both on watch. Make sure these civilians stay safe. If we find any more, we'll send them here,"

"Affirmative. Initiating overwatch protocol," Carson responded, reloading her particle cannon and scanning the area. Wilson stomped out of the cafe and onto the middle of the road, also with his cannon primed and ready to shoot down anything that moves.

"Alright. Those two will be enough to make sure that this area remains secure. Belladonna, de Cervantes. Check the toilets for hostiles or civilians,"

"On it, sir. Well, let's go, kittycat!"

"...Don't say that in public. I'm not a pet," grumbled Blake, her ears twitching in annoyance. The two of them moved to the back of the cafe, where there were a pair of glass-fronted doors with gender symbols painted on each one.

"I'll go in first. I've got thicker armour than you do," Maria whispered to her, "If there's a 'lid or something inside, I can take a few hits,"

Nodding, Blake pushed the door open while Maria stepped in with her plasma stormgun at the ready. The room was pitch black; the only sign of lighting ever being there in the first place was a sparking, shattered tube in the ceiling, the glass cover having broken quite some time ago. Her nose was immediately assaulted by a sharp, strong wave of what seemed to be drain cleaner – mixed with the metallic scent of copious amounts of blood.

"There's a body here," she muttered, looking at the ground, "I can't smell anything else other than drain cleaner, and I doubt that you'd need my nose to smell _that_ ,"

Maria flicked on the flashlight under her weapon and grimaced. Indeed, there was a body of the janitor on the ground, along with a large amount of cleaning liquids spilled from the overturned cart beside him. Crouching down, she looked over the body quickly. Her face turned grim when she saw two ragged stab wounds through the man's chest.

"Blake. Your weapon...it's a sword, isn't it?" she whispered, "Cut off the head from this body,"

"What? Why?" Blake asked, confused. Maria responded by prodding the open wound on the body.

It was still warm. Very warm.

"Do it. Now!" she hissed, her eyes scanning the walls and shadows wildly. Blake, perturbed by the lieutenant's fear, drew Gambol Shroud from its sheath and cleaved the corpse's head off with a single stroke. A single mottled egg rolled out from its neck, its leathery shell partially cracked open by a pale, clawed limb. Without another word, Maria crushed the unborn creature under her boot, sighing in relief when it stopped its thrashing.

"Papa Bear, this is Temptress," Maria said quietly into her comlink, still scanning the room with her submachine gun out, "Confirmed chryssalid activity, one impregnated corpse neutralised. Requesting battle scanner on my position,"

"Shit. Copy that, Cervantes. Move back to our position,"

Blake swore that she could hear some scraping noises from somewhere further inside. Something hard grinding against ceramic tiles, along with a faint crunching noise. There was also a second source of noise, somewhat like a tin can being pierced and twisted open by a blunt knife.

"We're not alone in here," she muttered, readying her chain scythe in pistol form. The sound of metal being warped and twisted grew closer and closer. She pointed her weapon at the ceiling; whatever it was, it was coming from above.

As if on cue, one of the cubicles' doors burst open. A chryssalid dashed out, its maw still dripping with blood. At the same time, a ceiling panel shattered, revealing another chryssalid with its claws covered in shreds of metal ducting. Their heads turned to face Blake and Maria; on seeing the two, they let out an unearthly shriek and dashed forward with incredible speed.

"Contact!" yelled Maria, unloading a barrage of plasma on the chryssalid that fell from the ceiling. One of its legs were torn off by the green bolts, and the side of its head was badly burned; yet it continued to sprint forward, driven mad by bloodlust.

Blake fired as fast as she could, but the conventional rounds that Ruby had prepared seemed to only barely scratch the creatures' outer plating. Grimacing, she leapt at the chryssalid, vaulting over its claws to bury the blade of her chain-scythe into the back of its head, firing one more time to drive a bullet into its brain and eject her weapon from its body. The chryssalid crumpled with a feeble squeak, its body still twitching weakly.

"Kittycat, look out!"

Maria gasped in shock when the remaining chryssalid drove both of its claws through Blake, the tip of its claws bursting through her chest. Shock turned to confusion, however, when the cat faunus' body dematerialised, leaving only wisps of smoke behind. She didn't have much time to think, however, before a hand yanked her back, dragging her bodily back out of the washroom.

"Let the others deal with it," Blake said to the medic. Her breathing was ragged and heavy, and there was a sharp, burning pain behind her right shoulder blade where the chryssalid had managed to land a solid hit. She slid to the floor as soon as she bashed down the door with her shoulder, dragging Maria down with her. The chryssalid, not wanting to lose its prey, rushed out after them. Unfortunately for the insectoid alien, Ruby and two other Strike One members were already waiting for it, tearing it to pieces under a barrage of plasma and high-powered sniper rounds.

"X-ray down!" one of the veterans shouted, "Maria, patch up the girl!"

"What?" the medic said, whipping around to look at Blake. There was a trickle of blood coming down the back of her right arm. " _Mierda._ Turn around, _gatita_. Let's see how bad it is,"

Slowly, Blake turned around, dreading what Maria was going to do. Her fears proved unfounded when the medic simply clicked her tongue. "Well, _gatita_ , it seems that you have a talent for cheating death. There's only a _small_ gash here, which a spray-" she felt a fine mist cover her wound, which immediately stopped stinging, "-will fix in no time at all. Try not to move for a couple of minutes while the medicine gets to work. _Dios mio_ , you scared me back there. What the hell was that?"

"My Semblance – my personal ability – lets me leave shadow clones of myself if I choose to," Blake muttered, sitting down behind an overturned table, "They're solid enough to fool enemies,"

"And friends, too. I thought you actually took that hit from the chryssalid!"

"I did. If you didn't warn me about it being there, I would've taken the full hit. So...thanks, I guess,"

"Alright, that's enough of a break. Shang, drop a battle scanner in the other washroom. Make sure there aren't any more surprises waiting for us. Belladonna, find some better cover and wait till you've recovered a bit,"

"On it," rasped an older operative, who proceeded to walk to the other washroom and throw in another one of the white spheres. "Looks clear of X-rays. There appear to be civilians in the floor above us,"

"That rules out any use of explosives. We don't want the floor above us collapsing," Papa Bear growled. Noting that there was only a single elevator leading up, he barked another order to one of the MEC troopers, "Carson! Make sure nothing gets inside this building!"

"Affirmative," responded the MEC trooper, moving to take her post in the middle of the ruined cafe.

"Strike One, please be advised that the JSDF has scrambled its ground and air forces. Finish up operations in your AO and RTB,"

"Copy that, Central. Li, Xiao Long. Check the next building. Rose, give your sister some cover. Schnee, be prepared to drop a barrier on them if anything hostile comes near,"

"On it!" all of them chorused, dashing out of the cafe and taking cover behind some flipped cars. Li, a large, bulky man with a reflex cannon, continued onwards, flanked by Yang. The two of them looked into the building to find a whole host of civilians, cowering behind mannequins and countertops in a fashion store.

Except that was not all that was in the building.

A dozen of what could only be described as floating, half-mechanical half-biological monstrosities were already inside, flying around and raining plasma on anything that moved. Those that attempted to surrender were executed where they stood, vaporised by the aliens' powerful weaponry. Six sectoids were assisting them with their gruesome task, scampering around and shooting any that were wounded but were still breathing.

Weiss flinched as she saw a familiar form emerge from behind a countertop – that of the hulking specimen in Vahlen's lab. Two of them, to be exact; one of which was in lighter green armour and holding what looked like an oversized plasma autocannon in his hands, while the other wore red and had heavy-looking metal gauntlets, thoroughly covered in spikes.

"Contact! Many hostiles inside the building, mixed with civilians!" shouted Li. He and Yang dived behind cover just before a barrage of plasma turned them into piles of ash, "It's getting hot here! Give us some cover!"

"Singh! Smoke them!"

"Copy that. Throwing some cover!"

"Thanks," Li said, when the smoke grenade began to spew out clouds of thick smoke. Looking at Papa Bear, he asked, "Sir, they're still executing civilians. Permission to storm the building?"

For a moment, there was no reply. "How many of them are there?" Papa Bear asked, after taking a deep breath.

Li lowered the goggles on top of his head and peeked carefully around the wall. "I count about twenty civilians, and about as many X-rays. Mostly floaters, a berserker and a muton grunt, and a few regular sectoids,"

Ruby shuddered at the mention of sectoids. The memories of the mindfray were still fresh in her mind. Nevertheless, she hoped that at least the normal ones weren't capable of doing that. The others, however, seemed far more threatening.

A loud, guttural roar came from the shop, followed by a terrified scream and a loud crack. The body of a woman sailed out, smashing through a window and coming to a rest barely three feet away from Ruby, her neck twisted unnaturally and her eyes glassy and unseeing. Other screams soon followed, punctuated by the hiss of superheated plasma streaking through the air.

"Strike One, we're losing civilians left and right. We need to get these people out of here, now!" Bradford hollered in all of their earpieces. Papa Bear grimaced and clicked it off, looking at his squad.

All of them had a grim determination in their eyes. All nodded as their eyes came into contact with his gaze. They knew what to do.

"Strike One, Strike Six, we're storming that building. Shang, Li, prepare flashbangs. Rose, Schnee, you're on overwatch," Papa Bear said, hefting his plasma cannon to shoulder level, "Williams, battle scanner out. On the count of three, you all throw it in. On five, we get in there and make sure all the X-rays go down,"

Both the asian operatives nodded and pulled out a thin and narrow grenade with a stripe of green paint running down its side, while the second engineer on the team held on to another scanner.

"One..."

"Two..."

"Three...!"

Three grenades smashed through what glass remained on the storefront. A blinding flash erupted inside the building, causing the humans to scream in terror and the aliens to howl in agony as they were blinded. The battle scanner then sent out a white pulse, illuminating the positions of every single enemy in the building.

"Five! Charge!"

Li was the first to dash inside, followed closely by Yang. Sliding to a halt behind the cashier's counter, Li fired a plasma bolt at the nearest blinded floater, incinerating its unprotected head. Holding the trigger down, he slammed back the charging pump, unloading another two shots at the next; that one fell too, missing both of its arms. Before he could fire at the third, however, a cloud of shrapnel tore the creature to shreds. Yang flashed him a quick grin before vaulting over a display case and punching two sectoids with enough force to send them crashing through the ceiling.

Maria and Williams came in next, ducking and weaving under a torrent of blind plasma fire from the disoriented aliens. The medic fired bursts at the floaters on the gallery above them, forcing them to flinch and roar in confusion. Williams, coming in after her, fired a quick burst from his rifle, dropping another of the floaters. When several of them returned fire, he dove behind a display case, narrowly evading the hail of green plasma.

"My turn!" Papa Bear said, grinning, his plasma cannon revved and spinning rapidly. Whatever the aliens might have thrown at his squad, he returned many times over; his weapon spat green fire so rapidly that it resembled a continuous green beam, tearing down aliens from left to right. There was no mercy to those that were hit; they simply ceased to exist, vaporised into a fine mist by the sheer volume of fire. Singh followed after him, tossing another smoke grenade onto the ground and covering them all with thick purple smoke.

"Delacroix! Finish them off!"

Behind them all, however, the last member of Strike One charged in. Or rather, _waltzed_ in, given the way in which she gracefully weaved and vaulted over bits of cover as though it were as simple as walking casually through a garden path; a silvery-haired blur in the smoke, rapidly moving over all the debris without so much as stumbling or tripping on anything.

"With pleasure, mon cher. Let us see if zese aliens can dance," she purred sadistically, twirling a plasma pistol in each hand. She looked at her enemies, licking her lips, "I hope zat they can...satisfy me. Or perhaps I shall tear zeir faces off first, if I feel _so_ kind,"

Without missing a beat, she lifted both pistols to eye level. Laughing maniacally, she fired shot after shot at every alien in the room, with such speed that even Ruby gawked at how fast the woman was aiming, shooting and correcting her aim whenever she missed. What was even more shocking was that she reacted to a thrown grenade from a muton by jumping – _thirty feet_ into the air – and then landing safely on the balcony above, before firing one last parting shot through the muton's weapon arm, severing it at the elbow.

Four floaters dropped to the ground with holes burned through their chests. The remaining sectoid attempted to flee, but Ruby fired a shot into its retreating back, sending it crumpling to the ground with a gaping wound spurting blood. Shifting her aim to the wounded muton, she finished it off with a clean shot through the head.

"Yang! Watch out!"

The blonde was too busy watching the fight elsewhere that she did not notice the roaring, furious berserker looming over her. By the time she reacted, the berserker was already bringing up its fist for an uppercut against her jaw.

Only to collide against an impenetrable, ice-blue glyph, barely an inch from her skin. Again and again the berserker punched the glyph, bellowing in frustration. Weiss had Myrtenaster out and pointing at the glyph, her hand trembling and sweating profusely as she maintained the barrier. Eventually, the glyph failed to hold and Weiss fell to her knees, panting in exhaustion. By that time, however, Yang caught the berserker's fists with her hands. Its snarling maw was in her face, and she was growling just as loudly back, the two of them wrestling for dominance.

Ruby swung her rifle around to aim at the berserker, bringing the crosshairs of her scope over the creature's head, and pressed the trigger.

Click.

Click. Click.

She blanched in horror as she remembered that the conventional rounds that she had made for the Crescent Rose only allowed for very few rounds to be loaded into the magazine. And now when she needed it most, the gun was empty. Yang was doing an incredible job holding back the berserker in hand-to-hand combat, but even now she was being pushed back slowly by the armoured monstrosity.

The other teammates had no clear shot on the berserker. If they fired, there was a good chance that they'd hit Yang. But if they took the time to reposition properly, they would have been too late.

With no other option, Ruby extended her scythe and raised it for a killing blow. Using her Semblance, she sprinted forward and leapt into the air at high speed, swinging the blade as hard as she could at the berserker's neck. The blade connected with the creature's armoured metal collar, tearing it open with a horrible screeching noise. Metal carved through flesh and bone as the blade dug even deeper into its neck; but on hitting something extremely hard, Ruby yelped when the scythe slipped out of her hands with a sudden jerk.

Still flying through the air at high speed, her eyes widened when the wall zoomed ever closer towards her-

Crash.

"Ouch, you alright, sis?" Yang said with a grimace, pushing the limp berserker off her and walking towards the small crater on the wall. The creature was gurgling in its death throes, its neck barely held on by a strip of mangled sinew.

"Yep. I'm fine...just give me a minute," she groaned, pulling bits of broken concrete off herself and standing up.

"Well, that was unexpected," Papa Bear chuckled, "A non-MEC trooper engaging a berserker in melee combat and wrestling it to a standstill? Did someone spike my drink this morning with some whiskey?"

"Your drink was only water, Papa Bear," Maria replied, shaking her head, "And our sniper charging at a berserker, to sever its head? And to make a crater by running into a wall? _Ay dios mio_ , I think I'm going mad,"

"That's one way to get your nickname, Crater Face," Yang laughed. The others joined in with her, much to Ruby's chagrin, "Are there any more of those things running around?"

"If there are any, we've got orders to clear out anyway. Central says that the JSDF are on the way with tanks and air support, which means our job here is done. Organised crime elements have rallied a defence and have eliminated most of the other aliens in other parts of the city, so these folks can take care of themselves. Good work out here, people. Meet me at the bar in the rec room behind the barracks tonight, we'll have a celebration for another mission accomplished by the numbers,"

* * *

Operation Winter Soldier: After Action Report

Col. Armand 'Papa Bear' Magnusson: Active  
Col. Eleanor 'Dominatrix' Delacroix: Active  
Cpt. Fei 'Thunderbolt' Li: Active  
Cpt. Yu 'Genius' Shang: Active  
Lt. Raj 'Mirage' Singh: Active  
Lt. Maria 'Temptress' de Cervantes: Active  
Lt. Elizabeth 'Hardcase' Carson: Active  
Lt. George 'Atlas' Wilson: Active  
Spc. Yang 'Tiger' Xiao Long: Active (Promoted)  
Spc. Blake 'Shadowcat' Belladonna: Wounded (Promoted)  
Spc. Weiss 'Ice Queen' Schnee: Active (Promoted)  
Spc. Ruby 'Reaper' Rose: Lightly wounded (Promoted)

* * *

A/N:Krazyfan1:I'm not actually sure if it's possible in canon RWBY, since the glyphs appear to be static objects at the point of conjuration. But given the lack of overall control that Weiss has over her glyphs at this point, throwing them as buzzsaws might be a bit , I enjoyed writing this part. An oversized squad makes more sense on a terror mission than it does for other missions. After all, why would you send a single squad to try and stop an alien invasion that may be deploying platoon-strength forces or more?As usual, feel free to leave questions, comments and/or suggestions by PM or review, and I'll get back to them by the next up: Fighting for a cause.

A/N2: TheBSDude: Well spotted! The girls would have associated aliens = grimm, and therefore would not have seen cruelty on the part of the aliens as being unnatural or confusing. Horror, shock or fear might have been natural responses, but not confusion. Now corrected and updated. Take a cookie before Ruby steals it *holds up cookie*


	10. 10 - A Cause Worth Fighting For

Though this time the team had returned with no fatalities, not all of the members of Strike Six were unaffected by what they had seen on the mission. Ruby was quietly sniffling in the back of the hold, held in a comforting one-armed hug by Yang. Weiss had her eyes closed as though she were sleeping, though the way she was biting on her lip betrayed rather unpleasant thoughts running within the apparently calm heiress' mind.

They had all taken part in ushering the surviving refugees back into safe areas before handing them to waiting Japanese forces. Many had been wailing for their lost parents or children. Even more were crying out for their fallen friends. It was not a pleasant experience for the huntresses, who had never truly experienced a full-on Grimm invasion on a settlement during their entire lives.

Blake had the top piece of her armour removed so that Maria could properly treat and dress the wounds, not caring that everyone could see the breast bindings that were barely covering her goods. The wound on her back still burned worse than if someone had dumped a bucketful of burn Dust on it; she needed the damn wound fixed now, privacy be damned. "What's on your mind, gatita?" the medic asked her, while looping the bandages around her torso again, carefully applying another dose of chryssalid antivenom and nanosutures from her medical spray gun and making sure the bandages were soaked in it.

"...All those people. We failed them," she murmured, closing her eyes and shuddering. The image of the chryssalid egg rolling out of a corpse's severed neck would remain with her forever; as would the children in the cafe, who were cowering in abject terror.

There was little doubt that their parents were somewhere in the area. Maybe even one of the bodies on the ground. She knew from her time in the White Fang that the younger ones were impressionable; that they would believe anything that was said to them, if it were repeated often enough. These children had seen far too much death in such a short time. She wondered what such traumatic exposure to so much death would cause.

"What would happen to them...?" she wondered aloud.

"I take it that you mean the little children that we've rescued?" replied Maria, halting what she was doing and squeezing Blake's shoulder gently, "Do not worry. The survivors of that attack have been handed over to the Japanese military for evacuation. They are safe,"

"I know. But it still feels wrong, like we could have done more to help them,"

"That it is, Shadowcat. You're not wrong there. But never mistake losing a few civilians for a failure. As long as we have saved at least one person, we may consider our job at least a partial success," Papa Bear spoke, removing his gloves and flexing his fingers. "As long as even a single human lives, we're not bending over for them to take us up our rear ends,"

The members of Team RWBY flushed a vivid vermilion at the rather crude image that the gruff man painted in their minds, while the rest of Strike One simply launched into giggles and snorts. After a while, however, Blake realised something about what Papa Bear had said.

"Shadowcat?" she queried, tilting her head.

"Damn straight. Shadowcat. Fits what you do better than 'cub', doesn't it? You were good enough to confuse Maria with your...weird cloning ability," he grunted, shrugging his shoulders, "Every member of XCOM that's survived their first few missions gets a nickname according to what they've done exceptionally well. It usually sticks, sometimes it changes. But if it bothers you that much, you can choose what you want to be called,"

"No, it's fine. Just a little...unexpected,"

"And if you are wondering, I am going to recommend you all for promotion. It's rare that I have a squad that keeps their cool in the face of chryssalids and mutons,"

"Oui. I must say, I was certainly not looking forward to putting our agents' remains in body bags," Delacroix chimed in, surveying them with a crooked smile on her lips, "But zat is not ze case, so I suppose I must thank you all for staying alive,"

"And that is the highest praise that you can receive from us. Congratulations, Reaper, Ice Queen, Shadowcat and Tiger. You've managed to impress our resident...information extractor, which is a feat not many have done before,"

"Ice Queen...?" Weiss mumbled, looking up with her eyes twitching in annoyance, "What- who made that nickname? And _Reaper_? Really?"

Judging by Yang's snort and Blake's amused chuckle, it appeared that they agreed with her nickname. Weiss puffed up some more in outrage, grumbling loudly about inappropriate naming conventions. Ruby, however, looked rather pleased with her new nickname, smiling broadly as she stroked Crescent Rose on her lap.

Papa Bear shrugged. "You've got a snowflake on your back, and you make snowflakes in the air from nothing that's apparently hard enough to block a raging muton berserker. Ice queen fits well enough. And Reaper? She's got a scythe bigger than herself, and a killcount that nearly matched our own lethal dominatrix over there for this mission. And with the way that scythe was dripping with alien blood after she ripped off the berserker's head? Totally matches the description of the Grim Reaper,"

Now it was Yang's turn to share a look with Blake. "Did he just..."

"...Make a pun?"

"What?" Papa Bear said, arching a bushy eyebrow. Eventually, their comments clicked and he shook his head in amusement. "Oh, those creatures back in your world. Very funny, Tiger,"

"Thank you! Finally someone gets it!"

"No. I was being sarcastic," he deadpanned, causing Yang to mock-faint, "You tried, and that's good enough for me. Lighten up, folks, we're all still alive. Look like it. Tiger, make a bad pun like that again and I'll be very tempted to leave you _Yang_ ing on the chin-up bars on the next PT session we have,"

A brief round of groans made their way through the craft, this time including Big Sky. "That was awful, Papa Bear. Don't do that again on my baby; I don't have enough buckets in case all of you throw up from those truly, truly terrible puns. Congratulations, you are all bigger threats to humanity than all the alien hordes combined,"

With the tension and gloom in the craft broken, the members of both Strike One and Strike Six began to chat idly between themselves. Ruby, however, was still deep in thought, looking at the silver-haired woman on the other side of the room. The things that she had seen her do in that building with all the civilians and the aliens – that rapid firing, hardly missing a shot; that speed and agility with which she weaved past all the debris; that jump to the balcony. It looked almost like a Semblance, but...different. As though it was natural and unforced. She couldn't see the woman's Aura either, so she had to be a native of Earth.

"It is rude to stare and not speak, ma chère," she spoke, looking up directly into Ruby's eyes with a sharp gaze not unlike that of a bird of prey. Startled, Ruby jumped in her seat. She swore the woman's pupils shrank and expanded several times in a second. "My, aren't you a nervous one. Come now, Eleanor Delacroix will not harm you if you speak wiz 'er. You are curious about something, are you not?"

"Sorry, it's just...Ihaventseenanyoneshootlikeyoudidbackthere-" she rattled off, unable to contain herself any more.

"Whoa, slow down, Reaper. Nobody's going to get what you're trying to say if you're throwing words out faster than a machine gun throws bullets,"

"I haven't seen anyone else shoot like you did back there. How did you do that?" Ruby repeated, at a pace that everyone could understand. Eleanor looked at Papa Bear questioningly; he shook his head in response.

Taking a deep breath, Eleanor looked squarely into Ruby's eyes. She swore there was the faint sheen of tears in those eyes. "Ma chère, perhaps when ze time is right. But not right now,"

"Aww," Ruby whined, putting up her best impression of a hurt puppy in an attempt to convince her to say something more. But the colonel had turned away, staring intently at the metal deck of the hold, no longer interested in holding any conversation with her.

* * *

That evening, after a celebratory dinner, the members of Strike Six found themselves being herded into the bar at the back of the barracks common room by Papa Bear and Maria. Despite vigorous protests by Blake and Weiss (and even Yang, though more on the fact that she thought Ruby should not be drinking yet), they found themselves being dragged inexorably towards the source of music that echoed through the common room and beyond. Elizabeth and Wilson had excused themselves early, citing that their MEC frames needed immediate maintenance after every mission, leaving them with just six soldiers from Strike One.

"So, yer all in the mood ta kill yer livers tonight, eh?" the barkeep laughed, waving at Papa Bear, "Wait, I didn't know you had little tykes, Bear. Why didn't ya tell me this? And who's the lucky lass that you've bedded enough times to make four of them?"

"These cubs?" he groaned, thumbing over his shoulder at Strike Six, who were being pushed forward by an evilly grinning Maria and Eleanor, "They're not mine, Patrick,"

"Heh. Could've fooled me, with how you managed to get the rest of Strike One pushing them in. Anyway, one of ya isn't going to get any drinks off me tonight. You there, young lady, look like you're well underage for drinking. If you're after something non-alcoholic, I can give it to ya, but nothing that's going to put you under the table after a few sips, ya hear?"

"Hey, I'm old enough to fight aliens, aren't I?!" she protested. Yang gave her a playful slap upside the head in response, eliciting a surprised yelp from the brunette.

"Rubes, you're barely seventeen," Yang said, "The rest of us are nineteen. You? You still drink-"

"Milk," finished the other two girls simultaneously, having heard their team leader say that phrase far too often in Beacon. Strike One blinked at the absurdity what was being said and then burst into a round of loud laughter, while Ruby hung her head and sighed.

"Reaper! For shame, senorita!" Maria gasped, scandalised, "One would think that you would have at least had a sip of something stronger by now! Well, we've got to fix that, don't we?" she whispered to Ruby, smirking conspiratorially, "Reaper, quick. What's your favourite flavour?"

"Uh...cookies? Strawberries are also tasty, I guess...?" Ruby whispered back, unsure of what Maria was trying to do. The medic hummed for a moment before smiling devilishly, giving the young huntress a mischievous wink before turning to face the barkeep with a well-practiced poker face.

She cleared her throat and all of them quietened down. "Alright. So, Leprechaun, here's what we're after. For a start, we'd like a dozen beers, a strawberry sunrise, and-" she cast a glance at the rest of Strike Six with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh. Very well, a glass of your finest red wine will be enough. If you have any on hand, that is," the heiress ordered, dearly hoping that the idea of a fine wine in a military base was no less than the rest of the world.

"A'course I have some 'fine wine', your ladyship," he joked, making a mock bow before he reached under the counter and pulled out a long, thin bottle with quite a thick layer of dust on it. Quickly dusting the bottle, he set it back on top the counter, along with an empty glass. "Have ta say, it ain't every day that someone asks for something like this, lass. Ya got fancy tastes,"

"Thank you...I guess?"

"And I think that we'd both like a whiskey or two, right kittycat?" Yang said, nudging the faunus girl with her elbow. Glaring at Yang, she nevertheless nodded in agreement.

"Right. Remember what I said, ya guys and gals," the barkeep – Patrick – snorted, placing a bottle of amber liquid on the countertop. "No drinks for the young lass over there. I'll bring your drinks to your table when I've filled them all,"

"Comprende, senor. Wouldn't dream of it," Maria said lightly, earning her a disapproving look from Patrick and amused sniggers from the others in Strike One.

"Right. So, let's get to it, then. A seat, for everyone!" Papa Bear spoke loudly, "Fall in line, Strike One and Strike Six! A celebration for a job well done awaits us!"

The bar, it seemed, was rather spacious. There were several large curved booths built into the side of the room, where there was ample seating to accommodate a dozen or so people per table. Packs of playing cards hung from the walls, along with what looked like sets of small, coloured round disks set in clear plastic tubes. Photographs and paintings of various locations on earth were scattered around the walls of the room.

Weiss, however, gasped in surprise when she saw what was on a raised platform on the far side of the room, nestled in between two clusters of seats. A black grand piano, still well-polished, along with a microphone on a stand; no doubt intended for an entertainer to perform.

"Ah, that instrument," Papa Bear said, following Weiss' gaze, "We had a rookie enlist that was a real performer and asked for one to be delivered to the base. Kept our troops in a good mood as long as he was around on the base. Shame he lost his nerve and resigned after about a month. Nobody's played it since,"

Weiss nodded to show that she was still listening – if barely - though her eyes were still on the instrument. Who knew that someone in the military had enough style to practice something so cultured? Nevertheless, she was not going to perform in front of this many people. That time in her childhood, pressured by her father, was long gone.

She seated herself at a table beside the rest of her squadmates; Ruby on her right, with Blake and Yang on her left. The rest of Strike One seated themselves on the other side of the booth, squeezing themselves together as closely as they could – though she suspected that was by choice, and not so much by necessity, considering that there was still a good two feet of empty seating left in the booth.

"So, I suppose after the successful mission today, it'd be rude if we don't get to know each other. We've got some time to kill before the drinks get to us," Papa Bear spoke, rubbing his hands to warm them up, "You all know me as Papa Bear, of course. Been with you all since the day you joined XCOM, I'd wager,"

A round of nods confirmed his statements, and he smiled warmly back at everyone. The dark-skinned man with a turban next to him coughed and spoke next, a thick accent making it rather difficult for Team RWBY to understand what he was saying.

"Raj Singh is my name. Or as some others say, 'Mirage', combat engineer and master of smoke and mirrors," he said, shaking his head when he saw Yang suppressing a giggle, "I do not understand. That seems to be the most common response when I introduce myself,"

"Mirage, you wouldn't get it even if it smacks you in the face," Papa Bear commented, motioning for Yang to settle down, "Don't worry, we like you anyway. After all, you keep our sorry asses from getting shot to bits on a mission with all those smokes you carry,"

"Si, senor. It would make my job much more difficult if I had to stitch up all of you every single battle," Maria laughed, giving Raj a friendly punch on his arm, "I'll stop here. You all know me. You especially, gatita," she added, winking at Blake, "You like that book so much you haven't returned it, huh?"

"...I'll return it...soon. Yes...soon..." Blake replied, blushing madly and shrinking in her seat, her faunus ears flattened against her skull, all while glaring daggers at the smirking woman. Ruby was looking curiously at Blake, wondering what caused her to be so embarrassed; Weiss shook her head while covering her eyes with a hand, and Yang looked like she was about to burst with pent-up laughter.

"Alright. I am Li Fei, and this is Shang Yu," the next man along said, nodding slightly, "I guess there's not much to say about us. I like fighting up close and personal, and Shang is Dr. Shen's assistant engineer when he requires an extra hand,"

"Oh wow, you work with Dr. Shen?!" Ruby said excitedly, staring at Shang with eyes not unlike that of an over-eager puppy.

"Yes. I ensure that everything that he designs will function correctly, and prove them before submitting the designs for production," Shang said tersely, clearly not enjoying the attention, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I see our drinks coming. I would prefer to drink in peace,"

Sure enough, Patrick arrived with an enormous tray of drinks to set down on the table in front of them. Most were large glass tankards of foaming, sweet-smelling beer; Weiss' requested wine bottle sat on one edge, an elegant fluted glass beside it; Yang and Blake's whiskey bottle was barely visible behind the wine. Ruby's eyes lit up when she saw the most colourful drink that she had ever seen in a cute funnel-shaped glass. It was the rosy orange-red of a brilliant dawn, topped with a luscious slice of an enormous strawberry jammed in the glass' rim; it took every bit of willpower she had to stop herself from jumping up and downing it in a single gulp.

"Oh, it looks like our first round of drinks have arrived," Maria said happily, picking up the colourful drink, "Eleanor, could you do me a favour and switch seats with me? I'd like to have a chat with the young leader of Strike Six,"

"So long as you do not corrupt her mind, mon amie," the frenchwoman replied with a grin, scooting over and allowing Maria to squeeze between herself and Ruby.

"Corrupt? Such a harsh word. I prefer the term...'educate',"

"Now, remember what I said, Maria," the barkeep sighed resignedly, knowing that she would simply ignore him, "No drinks for the young lass. And for the rest of ya, if ya want more, talk to me and I'll see what I can do,"

"Merci, monsieur," Eleanor said, waving him off.

"You know, I just thought about it. This is an awful lot of lien worth of drinks here. Who's picking up the tab?" Yang commented, eyeing the large bottle of prime quality whiskey in front of her.

"Eh, nobody. These drinks are gifts from all those grateful civilians that want to worship us like gods," joked Maria, "No, senorita; nobody pays for these. We do get them from grateful countries from time to time, though. Guess alcohol is the one common currency among all armed forces, no matter where you are. That, and bullets, but you can't drink bullets,"

* * *

An hour later, and the table was full of empty glasses of various shapes and sizes. Blake had fallen asleep after downing her sixth glass of whiskey, curled up with her head on Yang's lap and purring softly. Yang was currently locked in a drinking competition with Papa Bear, both of them having downed numerous beers and shots of whiskey; both sides still sat straight, if a little woozy, unwilling to be the first one to admit that they were drunk. Shang and Li had left after about half an hour, saying that they had some tasks to attend to, while Eleanor, Raj and Maria were playing some card game that the Earth people called 'poker'. From what Weiss had gathered, it was some form of gambling game, with money represented as little clay disks of different colours and values that they called 'chips'. Maria had somehow managed to gather a veritable mountain of these chips to herself, leaving both Eleanor and Raj with a pitiful amount of low-value red chips.

"Three of a kind, aces," declared Raj smugly, confident that nobody else was going to win. Eleanor grumbled and threw down her cards in defeat, pushing the remainder of her chips to the small pile in the middle.

"That's all you offer? Senor, you offend me with your lack of bravery," chided Maria playfully, "All in,"

"...All in? Okay. I will match that. Prepare to lose!"

"Well then, be prepared to be disappointed," she laughed, throwing down her cards. A straight flush. Raj groaned and pushed the rest of his chips into the middle, plopping his head onto the table in defeat.

"Another round?"

"Non, I shall pass. Madame Fortune does not favour me tonight," Eleanor replied. Noticing the wine on the table that still had some in it, she reached out and looked at the label, "Ooh la la, a fine choice indeed! Limited vintage, un vin de Bourgogne? A most delectable wine!"

Weiss merely nodded with a smile. She had to admit, the wine was up to par with any of the best that Remnant had to offer; perhaps even those that came from her father's private stores that appeared only on important dinners and celebrations. Smooth and elegant, with a spicy bouquet that lingered for just long enough to tantalise one's nose, coupled with a divinely balanced taste that left one longing for more. There was a certain heat in her face and a pleasant buzz that came from nearly draining the whole bottle empty; and yet, she had to admit, she would likely be willing to drink another bottle empty, if given the chance. But a Schnee had to know how to hold her wine, and that included knowing when to stop.

Looking over to Ruby, the heiress noticed that the reddish-brown haired girl was now swaying slightly in her seat, sporting a wide, contented smile on her face. Several of those conical glasses now sat in front of her, all drained of their colourful contents. To Weiss, the drink appeared far too gaudy and sweet for her liking; but she supposed that to her strawberry- and cookie-loving team leader, it would have been delicious.

"Weiiiissss," Ruby slurred, giving her an exaggerated wave that almost smacked Maria in the face, "What...what are you looking at...? Do I look funny? Do I have something on my face...?"

Averting her gaze, she inwardly cursed at herself. It was almost criminal, the way that girl managed to annoy her with her clumsiness and apparent thoughtlessness; and yet, at the same time, defuse her wrath with that ungodly adorableness that seeped from every pore of her being. "No, Ruby...you're...bea-"

She bit down on her tongue. What had come over her to say something like that, with Yang just to her left? Even with Blake pinning the blonde down by sleeping on her lap, the blonde could hit pretty hard while sitting down; and the last thing that she wanted to do was to test the brawler's strength while she was drunk.

"I'm...whaa...?" Ruby continued, sliding over to Weiss' side. The girl's face was now barely inches away from her own; she looked at Eleanor with pleading eyes, hoping for some assistance. The older woman, however, simply shook her head and smiled back, clearly enjoying the heiress' discomfort.

"I was trying to say, you look just fine," Weiss said, gathering as much dignity as she could into her voice. Ruby giggled and leant back into her chair, sighing contentedly.

"Thash...good. I feel warm...like I want to nap. Your voice is so...pretty," Ruby whispered, dropping her chin onto the heiress' shoulder, "So...pretty..."

A triumphant belly-laugh from her left told her that Papa Bear had managed to win in his drinking competition against Yang; and sure enough, it was followed by a thud of something soft against the table. Yang was slumped face-down against the table, snoring loudly while drooling. She breathed out in relief. Explaining the brawler's sister's position would have been rather awkward – if she did not get punched through the wall first.

"Can you...sing for me? Please?" whispered Ruby into her ear, causing the heiress to stiffen.

Singing? In public?

She cast a nervous glance around. Yang and Blake were asleep. Papa Bear was now chatting animatedly with Raj and Eleanor, not paying attention to her. Maria, however, caught her look and gave her a cheeky thumbs-up, coupled with an ever-vexing wink.

"Fine. Just for you, and just one song for tonight, dunce," Weiss sighed, blushing furiously as she stood up. She supposed that one or two listeners was always better than a crowd.

Carefully, she squeezed past Ruby and the rest of Strike One and walked to the microphone on the stage. Looking at the piano in front of her, she shook her head. If she was going to sing in front of them, she might as well perform properly. And so she detached the microphone from its stand at propped it up on top of the piano, adjusting it so that it would be at the right height for her to sing into if she were playing the instrument.

She looked in the direction of Ruby. The girl's silver eyes were staring expectantly in her direction. Taking a deep breath, she touched the ivory and ebony keys on the piano and started the song; a slow, peaceful tune to end a wonderful night.

 _Whenever I sang my songs,  
On the stage, On my own.  
Whenever I said my words,  
wishing they would be heard.  
I saw you smiling at me,  
Was it real or just my fantasy?  
You'd always be there in the corner, of this tiny little bar._

 _My last night here for you,  
same old songs just once more.  
My last night here with you?  
Maybe yes, maybe no.  
I kind of liked it your way,  
how you shyly placed your eyes on me.  
Did you ever know that I had mine on you?_

Weiss was now uncomfortably aware of the fact that several pairs of eyes were now on her. Coughing, she finished the last note on the song and abruptly stood up, walking away from the piano and microphone. A dark-haired blur zoomed into her almost immediately, knocking the wind out of her. A pair of arms were wrapped tightly around hers, along with a rather warm body pressed against her front.

"Ruby, get off me, you dolt!" Weiss hissed, attempting to pry the girl's arms from around her waist, to no avail.

Patrick was the first man to speak. "Lass, if it takes you a bottle of the finest wine that I have to sing, ya can have as many bottles as ya like. Haven't heard anything like that in...well, ever,"

"Oui. Zat was...beautiful," Eleanor commented with a smirk on your face, "But I think that you need to take your squad leader back to 'er room. She looks like she's had a bit much tonight,"

"I told ya, lass, yer not supposed to be drinking," grumbled the barkeep, "And ya there! Maria! Ya gonna give ole Bradford an explanation for why the young lass was drinking tonight, ya hear me?"

"I don't think that's happening, Patrick. After all, did anyone else see her drinking?" Maria chuckled, gesturing across her lips as though she were zipping it up. Catching her drift, the rest of Strike One shook their heads, grins on their faces. "See? Nothing wrong has happened,"

"Fine, fine. Nobody listens to the barkeep, because he's apparently always drunk. Just help me clean up this mess, and I'll keep quiet,"

"Alright. Totally worth it!" laughed Maria, giving Patrick a thumbs-up. Her smile faltered when she saw where Patrick was looking. Right at Yang and Blake. "Wait, by this mess, you mean...?"

"That's right, lass. Get these two back to their bunks. I don't care how ya do it, I can't get the place cleaned up if that blondie here don't get up soon. And looking at how many drinks she's had, that ain't gonna be soon enough,"

"Okay, show's over, boys and girls. Time to haul ass to showers and then bed, if you can manage to walk straight," Papa Bear said loudly, standing up and slinging Yang over one shoulder and Blake under one arm, "I'll take these two back to Strike Six's room. Ice Queen, Reaper, you're coming with me. No more drinks for you for tonight, Reaper,"

"Aww, but they're sho tashty," Ruby whined, pulling away from Weiss and promptly falling flat on her face when she forgot about the raised performer's platform. "Oww..."

"...Ice Queen, she's all yours,"

* * *

With Blake and Yang tucked away into their respective beds by Papa Bear, Weiss thought that perhaps she could have some peace and quiet in her sleep that night. It took hours of uneasy tossing and turning before she realised that she could not sleep properly. Though the sight of one or two dead bodies did not disturb her too badly – the White Fang had made sure of that, given her family's somewhat questionable choices in business ethics – the sight of an entire _city_ burning was an entirely different, grisly affair. She could not remember the last time there was a major conflict _anywhere_ on Remnant, or any Grimm breaching city defences.

For once, she thought that perhaps drinking herself to oblivion was a good idea. The images of the city, covered in scorching embers and acrid black smoke; the blood-soaked snow and concrete, littered with torn and shredded bodies and body parts; the destroyed shops of what was once a prosperous city avenue. Those images chilled her blood, yet nothing horrified her more than seeing the corpses of men and women lying lifeless on the floor, their hands reaching out for a fallen infant barely out of their arms' reach. And try as she might, the images still stuck in her head, stubbornly refusing to leave.

After yet another failed attempt to convince herself to sleep, she noticed an odd sound coming from below her.

Sniffling. And only barely audible through Yang's snoring.

"Ruby?" she asked quietly, wondering if maybe her squad leader was still awake.

"Mmm?" came the muffled reply from below. Weiss shifted over to the edge of her bed and looked down. Even through the darkness of the room, she could see the pools of liquid silver below looking straight into her own eyes.

"Can't sleep?"

"Yeah," mumbled Ruby.

"I can't sleep either. I keep seeing...things that I don't want to see," Weiss said.

"I'm too scared to sleep,"

Too scared to sleep. That was a new one to Weiss. Back in Beacon, both of them slept like rocks, nearly impossible to wake up if either of them didn't want to get up. And given how Ruby seemed to approach almost everything with boundless enthusiasm and positivity – including being all too happy to hunt Grimm – it was very difficult for the heiress to imagine exactly _what_ could make her scared. Unless, of course, she was going through the same thing as she herself was.

"Want to talk about it? It's not like I'm going to be able to sleep anyway," huffed Weiss, clambering down from her bunk. Ruby shifted over in her bed so that Weiss could sit on one side, propping herself up with her hands. Silence fell over the two for a minute as Ruby said nothing, while Weiss waited for a response.

"If you're scared of something, you can say what it is, can you not?"

She felt warm fingers brush against the knuckles of her left hand. "...Not like this. Weiss, can you...?"

Weiss sighed. It was likely the same absurd request as when the dark-haired girl was recovering from a mindfray. "You want me to sleep in the same bed again? Is this really necessary?"

Ruby gave a vigorous nod. Considering that Ruby was unlikely to say anything more unless her request was satisfied, Weiss shook her head in disapproval before sliding under the blankets beside the younger girl, lying on her side to face her. As soon as she had done so, she was pulled in by Ruby, who buried her face in the crook of Weiss' neck.

Crying.

"I...I know that when I joined Beacon, I wanted to become a huntress. I wanted to protect people. I wanted to help those that couldn't defend themselves," she cried, sobbing into Weiss' shoulder, "I used to think that our Aura would protect us from everything. But then...then I saw what these aliens did. Our Aura doesn't do much against what they use. Blake's had her legs broken once, and just today she's been stabbed by some...some _thing_...that just left a huge burn in her back,"

"Ruby. Ruby, calm down," Weiss hissed, dearly hoping that the girl wouldn't start hyperventilating.

"I can't calm down! That mission...so many innocent people dead. But that wasn't the worst of it. Yang nearly died. If you didn't put up a glyph to block those hits, she wouldn't be in this dorm with us tonight. Then...then you fainted afterwards. Dust, I was scared,"

"I'm alright. I'm still here. Yang's still here. Blake's still here, and she's recovering well from that wound. What are you so scared about? We're huntresses. We knew this could happen to us, and we accepted that risk a long time ago. How many times did we end up in the hospital wing back in Beacon?"

"Still...that's...different," Ruby sniffed, "The Grimm don't have guns like these aliens do. At least our Aura and Semblances work properly there, and Headmaster Ozpin is always there to help us when things get too hard. At least I know that my teammates can't die that easily there. I can't – I don't know what I'd do without you guys. Yang's been with me for so long, I can't remember when she was ever not with me. Blake's a good friend, even if she stays quiet most of the time. And...and...you're...you,"

Weiss raised an eyebrow. That was a very strange comment, even by the standards of the hyperactive girl in her arms.

"What do you mean, I'm...myself?" Weiss said slowly, trying and failing to understand what Ruby was trying to say.

"I...don't know," she answered, "You're different. You keep us on track on missions, even if half the time you're calling us names. You make sure that we're all on top of the coursework we've been given. I sometimes think that maybe Ozpin made a mistake, making me the leader of Team RWBY, instead of you,"

"Stop. Stop right there," Weiss declared, pushing Ruby away from her for a moment. Looking straight into her eyes without blinking, Weiss said, "Ruby. We've discussed this before. If I were leader, the whole team would fall apart. You remember what happened the first time we've had this argument. Yang follows you unconditionally. Blake respects you. I...I only get into fights with them. You hold the whole team together, somehow,"

Taking a deep breath, she pushed her pride back to the back of her mind. Her family pride be damned, her team came first. "Remember what Papa Bear said to us in the armoury. We should not regret anything we have done, and we should not do anything we would regret. I tried to force Ozpin into making myself the leader of this team, even though it wasn't the right thing to do. I won't make the same mistake twice. You held this team together in the past. You hold this team together now. And I'm very much willing to work with you to keep it that way, for as long as I can,"

"I'm...just worried," Ruby murmured, "I'm worried about losing any of you. Especially you,"

"Ruby," she said sternly; the emphasis on herself not lost on the heiress. _What on Remnant did she mean by that?_ "We're partners in the team. I won't let you go down that easily. And I don't think that Yang is going to let Blake down anytime soon. We'll make it through this. Together,"

She looked into silver eyes, hoping that whatever fear that Ruby had was quelled for now. Slowly, but surely, Ruby burst into tears. Tears of relief. Weiss pulled Ruby in again, letting the younger girl let it all out into the crook of her neck, while gently stroking her hair comfortingly. After a while, her sobs became more and more muted, until it eventually stopped entirely.

"Weiss..." Ruby whispered. Her eyes were puffy and red, though there were no more tears falling from them.

"Yes?" she answered, wondering what more did Ruby want to say.

"When you said that we'll make it through this...together...did you mean it?"

"I meant it. We'll make it through this war alive. Together. I promise you that," the heiress declared with conviction in her voice.

"...That's the Weiss I know...and the one I love..." Ruby whispered into her ear, causing Weiss' heart to freeze for a second. The next moment, however, she found soft, wet lips on hers, giving her a tender kiss. The younger girl's hands wrapped around her neck, pulling her into a deeper kiss.

 _So that's what it was. Why she felt safe with me. Why she asked for my company on that night. And why she's asking for me to listen to her tonight. Dust, I'm stupid._

 _...But I have to admit, this isn't bad. She doesn't smell of...whatever it is that the others have when they try their luck with me. Strawberries and roses are quite pleasant, if a little unrefined. She even still tastes of that strawberry cocktail. So warm, so inviting, so sweet._

 _Maybe I'll give her a chance. She already proved early on that she doesn't care about my family's name, wealth or status. Maybe she'll be different from those other...suitors. Those arrogant, uncultured snobs. She's already proven to be sweet, caring and dependable; more than I could say for father or any of his 'suitable candidates'. Maybe. Just maybe...I can be myself. Weiss. Not the Schnee heiress. Just Weiss._

"...Did you really mean that?" Weiss asked quietly, when Ruby pulled away to catch a breath.

"Didn't you just say to not do anything that we might regret?" replied Ruby, with an innocent smile on her face, "And you did say that we'd make it through this war. Together,"

"I didn't mean it _that_ way, you dolt," she chuckled, bumping her forehead against hers, "But I think I know what you thought of it anyway. And...I accept,"

Ruby squeaked in delight and pulled her partner in for another kiss. One that was reciprocated in turn. Before long, they settled into a more comfortable position to sleep; Ruby nestled against Weiss' chest, with Weiss resting her head on top of Ruby's, their fingers entwined. Each wore a content smile on their faces, their previous cares eased away by the knowledge that they would not have to face them alone, and the fact that they now had another to cherish and treasure, to love and protect.

A truly worthy cause to fight for.

* * *

A/N

Special thanks to theBSDude for picking out an error with how I wrote the characters on the last chapter. That has since been corrected. Have a cookie, before- *rose petals fly past* ...Never mind.

Krazyfanfiction: I do have things planned for the glyphs, but Dr. Vahlen seems to refuse my attempts to push elerium research to the front of the queue...*grumbles* damned autopsies...

Allard-Liao: She's an ice queen, but hey, who IS going to get away from THAT nickname when you've got a giant snowflake painted on your back?

As usual, feel free to put forward questions, comments, or criticisms.

 **Note for other writers using OpenOffice with US Keyboard w/ International IME for accented characters** :

It appears that switching keyboard types mid-way through writing will cause an uploaded document to lose spaces and/or entire words at the location of the switch. Safer to use character map instead if there's not too many accented characters in the text.

Next up: A House Divided. Humanity is not as unified as XCOM makes it appear to be...


	11. 11 - A House Divided

A few days had passed since the terror mission, and the team had since fallen into their regular routines. With Aura enhanced healing – even if partially suppressed outside Remnant – Blake had managed to completely recover from the chryssalid claw wound in record time, surprising even Dr. Vahlen to the point that she requested if Strike Six could provide a DNA sample for her to examine. Which, of course, had been turned down by all of them, given what Weiss had said of the good doctor's experiments.

One day, however, when Ruby and Weiss were performing maintenance on their weapons, they noticed that Papa Bear was approaching them, along with Eleanor at his side.

"Hello, pups. Care to come with me to the command centre today?" Papa Bear said, "There is a mission in progress by Strike Two. It would be a good idea for you to look at what they do on their operations. Sensible tactics to use and all that, you know. Especially for you, Reaper; Bradford thinks that you need some experience in leading a small tactical force in missions, so we're doing this to teach you a few things,"

"Ooh! Hold on a second. Annnnd...there!" Ruby replied, folding up Crescent Rose. "Alright, Papa Bear, we'll come along,"

"That's the spirit! Good. Let's go,"

The command centre's hologlobe was notably absent today. Bradford, as usual, was standing stiffly over the holographic display in the centre of the room, staring intently at whatever it was displaying at the moment. As Ruby drew closer, she saw several human-like figures standing near the model of a Skyranger, in some sort of urban area.

"Central, this is Big Sky. We've touched down on the AO, and Strike Two is ready to move on your orders,"

"Copy that, Big Sky," Bradford replied, turning off his microphone. "So, I see that you have the NCOs of Strike Six with you. Excellent,"

"Wait, what? NCOs? What are those?" Ruby piped up, confused.

"Non-commissioned officers, Corporal Rose. As much as I would prefer to have Papa Bear watch over your squad for a few missions more, circumstances have changed and we need Strike One back as a full team. You are acting as an officer for the time being, though without the appropriate rank until I determine that you are ready to lead as one. Which we will see after today whether you are fit to lead or not,"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you-" he pointed at Ruby, "-are going to be taking note of what happens in this operation. Papa Bear is going to command Strike Two from here, and you are going to watch what he does, and think about _why_ he would issue certain orders, and _how_ he will approach objectives. And from the reports that Papa Bear has submitted, Lance Corporal Schnee will also have to be doing this. I will expect nothing less than stellar analysis from both of you,"

"I don't have a problem with doing that, but why both of us? Ruby is the leader of our squad," Weiss commented, crossing her arms.

"Every leader has a second-in-command to take over in case they get knocked out or killed. It makes sure that the squad has someone else to fall back on," Bradford said darkly, "We'd prefer not to have our operatives fall on the battlefield, but there is always that possibility,"

Weiss was about to retort when she felt a pair of small hands squeeze her own reassuringly. Turning to Ruby, she shared a look with the younger girl. There was no way she would allow that to happen. Not on her watch.

"If it comes to pass. And that is a big if," Weiss spoke coldly, her eyes like chips of ice as she gazed on the holographic display.

"Well, I certainly wasn't suggesting that it was going to happen to either of you," Bradford replied, holding up his hands, "Just saying that anything can happen. Anyway, Papa Bear, this mission is all yours. Strike Two, relinquishing command to one-actual,"

"Copy that, Central. Awaiting orders,"

Papa Bear hummed in thought as he observed the display. The AO was a suburban commercial area, with burned-out stores and buildings on either side of a broad avenue."Two-four, two-five, you're both snipers. Two-four, move to the rooftop of the left building. Two-five, same but on the right. Take cover by the low wall on the edge of the building,"

"Affirmative. Motoring,"

"Why's he moving them to low cover...? Isn't that dangerous?" Ruby whispered to Weiss, who was also deep in thought, "There's a metal duct in the middle of each building. That should provide better protection, shouldn't it?"

"If they're on the edge of the building, they can cover each other, and shoot at most things on the street," Weiss replied, realising exactly why they had been posted that way when Papa Bear instructed them to hold position and watch for enemies.

"Zat would be correct, Miss Schnee. But that would not be all," Eleanor purred, pointing at the buildings on the display, "Observe ze buildings carefully. Both have solid concrete rooftops. If the aliens were to drop a few of zeir reinforcements, it would be very difficult for either of zem to escape if they were in the middle of the roof. Zis way, zey could simply jump down and run into the building for protection, forcing ze enemy on top to expose zemselves if they wished to pursue them,"

"Ohhh, that makes sense! So if the guys on the ground floor were on overwatch..."

"Precisely, Miss Rose. But let us continue watching,"

The squad of six had been moved methodically through the entire zone without taking any risks. Each time a squad member moved, there was at least another three able to cover his or her position. Eventually, they came into contact with an alien drop pod - along with three Thin Men on the rooftop of a building across a four-way intersection. There were many burned-out hulls of tanks and military trucks strewn across the intersection and the road leading beyond, suggesting that perhaps they had been attacked by these aliens.

"X-rays spotted!" 2-actual called out. The Thin Men hissed and dashed for cover on the rooftop, clustering behind a number of tall air conditioning units.

"This is bad," Ruby muttered, watching the positions of the squad members. Four of them were on the ground floor. All of the four had no way to shoot at the aliens on the rooftop, and had to run into an open intersection with no cover in it to shoot back. Only the sniper on the right rooftop could fire freely; but no matter how good he was, she doubted that he could hit - and kill - all three of the Thin Men.

"I'm in the open here!" 2-4 shouted, ducking under a wild barrage of plasma shots from the Thin Men.

"2-4, run a little closer. Prepare plasma grenade. Throw over the air conditioning units," Papa Bear said calmly. 2-4 obliged, tossing the grenade as instructed. A green explosion rocked the distant building; a section of the rooftop collapsed under the explosive force of the grenade, taking with it all three of the Thin Men and burying them under flaming rubble.

"Multiple targets down!" 2-actual reported, leaving Weiss amazed at just how these men could remain cool under fire, despite not having any Aura to absorb any incoming fire.

"Remember. No matter how bad ze situation appears to be, it is up to the commander to make ze best of it. A moment's 'esitation; a second of panic; a pause to despair, and your entire team can pay ze price. Never falter, and always keep some options open when you can,"

When the ground team came closer to the destroyed tanks in the intersection, one of the men touched a hole in the side of the vehicle, "Central, we're seeing something really odd here. These tanks...they weren't destroyed by alien weapons," he said gravely, "These appear to have been hit by some human-made anti-tank missiles,"

"I thought XCOM was...defending humanity?" Ruby asked, confused, "And the aliens are attacking humans, aren't they? These tanks are human ones...so why would they be attacked by humans...?"

Eleanor looked at the display with barely veiled distaste. "I wish zat I could say zat all of 'umanity were as unified as you zink. But I must say zat is most certainly not ze case. After all, in every nation, zere are always cowards and traitors. All of whom must be brought to justice. Yes...justice..."

Weiss found herself slowly shuffling away from Eleanor when she noticed the woman stroking the long combat knife on her waist almost affectionately. Some things are just better kept in the shadows.

Regardless, the people in the command centre soon found themselves no longer paying attention to what Papa Bear was doing. Bradford was more concerned with the revelation that there was an unknown human faction that was either aiding the enemy or actively attacking XCOM allies. This was not a setback that they could afford; not with XCOM personnel counts as low as they were. Eleanor was muttering to herself about how she could extract information from the rogue humans (with frequent mentions of rather sharp and pointed implements), while Ruby was simply unable to comprehend how humans could attack other humans while the world was under siege by aliens.

"How can they do this?" Ruby whispered under her breath, "That's...that's like...working with the Grimm to attack other humans,"

"Maybe these humans are like those White Fang," Weiss said, "Attacking other humans just because they don't have something that they want. But even White Fang wouldn't work with Grimm to achieve their ends. Still, this isn't good. We'll have to keep an eye out for other people as well in our missions from now,"

Ruby nodded reluctantly. It was much easier knowing that your enemy was always the same; for huntresses and huntsmen on Remnant, a Grimm was a Grimm, and that was the enemy. On Earth, it used to be that the enemy was all the varieties of alien life. But with the addition of these humans that seemed to be attacking XCOM allies, it would be much more difficult to tell exactly who was their enemy.

"I wish it wasn't like this," Ruby groaned, burying her face in Weiss' shoulder.

The white-haired girl couldn't help but agree with what her team leader had said. It was much easier to see an enemy that was not like your allies. Like how the Faunus were to her, before she realised that one of her closest friends was most definitely a Faunus - and one that was a White Fang member at some point in her life. It was much easier to deal with an enemy that was clearly visible; one that they couldn't suspect was in their ranks, blending in amongst those that she could trust.

An enemy within. The worst kind of enemy that they could have.

* * *

A/N

Okay, it's been a while since I've updated this one. My other computer's borked and I've ordered in parts to repair it, but the parts won't arrive for some time yet; so in the meantime, have this shorter chapter. I was going to expand it into an anti-EXALT mission, but that would probably be better taking up a whole chapter on its own.

That, and I've been cutting loose on writing a lighter hearted piece for shits and giggles. Of Cookies and Liminal Barriers is up, now with 9001% more cookies infused with essence of Mania. Feel the madness flow through you! Because madness is only one step away from inspiration :D

Allard-Liao: Yep, South America is badass for those autopsies. But if you really want to get your squad up and running at max power as quickly as you can, I found that the Future Combat bonus of Asia is better. All those squad upgrades cost a lot T.T


	12. 12 - The Skeleton Key

It had been a week since the existence of an unknown human enemy became known to XCOM. Fortunately, there had been no other reported attacks by them anywhere else in the world. While that fact served to calm Strike Six down somewhat, it did very little to calm Bradford or any other veteran members down at all. For all of them knew that an enemy that was absent was just an enemy hiding in the shadows.

Biding their time, waiting for a finishing blow when their target was weak.

It seemed that for once, however, XCOM was in luck. When Strike One had been sent out to destroy an alien battleship, they had recovered a strange crystalline shard from a stunned Outsider at its helm. With a bit of research and Dr. Shen's help, Dr. Vahlen had discovered that the shard responded to certain radio frequencies, and often resonated on a single wavelength at a rate too constant to be random. Eventually, both of them came to the conclusion that the crystal was some sort of communications device, responding to an external signal; which, given the low intensity of the responding signal from the crystal, pointed to a potential source somewhere on the planet's surface.

"...Now, if we could identify where the source of the signal was, we would likely find something important to the aliens," Dr. Shen concluded his report, looking at a very pleased Bradford.

"This is great news. If this crystal is some kind of alien communications endpoint, then the source must be a larger relay providing it with information," Bradford hummed, looking at the hologlobe. There were two strike teams already out at that moment; Strike One was currently raiding a crashed battleship in South Africa, while Strike Two was defusing a thermonuclear device in Moscow, "You haven't got any way of extrapolating the source of the signal, have you?"

"No, unfortunately. Strike One only retrieved a single crystal, and therefore we've only got a single detector," Shen admitted, scowling when he realised the problem that they had, "But I suppose we can attach this to the Big Sky's Skyranger, and have the return signal strengths logged as they travel from point to point. One long flight should be enough to pinpoint the original source of the signal with good precision,"

"Well, when that Skyranger comes back, I expect that you will attach the receiver, Dr. Shen. It's time that we take the fight to the aliens,"

Silence hung about the air after Bradford posed that question to them. They may be willing to fight the aliens, but their personnel were in no shape to do so. Strikes One and Two had been out and about several times already this month, and even Dr. Vahlen was recommending that the two strike forces be grounded for rest and recuperation after their current missions. The sheer amount of fatigue that they were accruing would have dropped lesser men and women dead, if it were not for the almost equally dangerous amounts of stimulants running in their systems.

"...How is Strike Three? Are they combat ready yet, Dr. Vahlen?"

"Partially. 3-2, 3-3, 3-4 have completed their genetic augmentation therapies, and are now resting in the barracks. 3-Actual has had an adverse reaction to some contaminated MELD, and he will likely require a second course of augmentation therapies to correct a malformed secondary heart," Vahlen listed off methodically, "But that leaves us with only a partial fireteam, not even a squad,"

"We could combine them with Strike Six for a mostly complete squad," Shen suggested, "Strike Six has been rested for some time now,"

Bradford hummed, drumming his fingers on the edge of the hologlobe projector. "We could do that. I believe that while I still have doubts about Corporal Rose's ability for tactical assessment and strategic planning, her second-in-command has proven most perceptive in almost all situations. Both of them have outperformed 3-Actual in their theoretical tactical scores thus far, which further suggests their readiness,"

"Their gear is still inferior to what Strike One has. I will have the Foundry engineers rush their requisitioned armour to the front of the production queue. If they are going to assault an alien communications outpost, they will need as much protection as they can get," Shen murmured, looking at the globe thoughtfully, "At least their weapons are fully maintained and upgraded to the highest standards. Corporal Rose has seen to that personally,"

"Well, that's settled then. Shen, how much time do your engineers need to finish the manufacture of their Titan Armour?"

"There's only one suit left to finish. I believe that if all our engineers were brought to the task, we should be able to finish manufacturing in two days. Getting Miss Rose and her team accustomed to wearing their new armour should take less than a day,"

"Good. Make it happen. Find out where in the world that signal is coming from, and we shut it down. Hopefully this will buy us some time when their communications are disrupted,"

* * *

Back in the Foundry, a number of engineers had gathered around the proving grounds on its far side. Excited chatter came from them, drowning out even the noises of all the heavy equipment in it. If one were to take a closer look, one would find the absurd scene of a crowd of fully grown men and women in lab coats gathered around a youthful girl with an overly-large sniper rifle, with a scythe attached as a monopod. The girl in question was carefully leveling her sniper-scythe to line up with the dummy target on the far side; a discarded Muton corpse with a mostly functional piece of its armour over its chest. There was even several layers of alien ship plating on the other side of the Muton.

"Hmm...if my calculations were right, this should work..." she hummed, sliding in a small canister of elerium into a port on the weapon's magazine well. She cheered when the magnetic containment chamber inside the weapon lit up with green plasma almost instantaneously, visible through the ultrahard ceramic glass on its side.

She pulled the trigger and the weapon began to hum loudly, shaking in her hand when the cyclonic agitator electromagnets over the containment chamber began to spin rapidly. For the briefest of moments, the containment chamber flashed an intense white; and a deafening, shrill shriek tore across the room when the rifle launched a scorching bolt of white-hot plasma downrange. The sheer recoil of the weapon caused the dug-in scythe to tear a two-foot long gash in the concrete floor; the girl, however, whooped in joy when the recoil nearly flung her backwards.

"Holy shit," one of the engineers mouthed, gazing at the destruction that the weapon left. The muton corpse was simply obliterated; there was nothing left of it except a fine cloud of glowing ash. The alien ship plating behind had been thoroughly melted to three layers deep, a six-inch wide molten hole carved through the plates. "Girl - sorry, Corporal Rose, was it? I heard that Dr. Shen was letting you work on a...sniper rifle, not a man-portable plasma anti-aircraft gun!"

"But it is a sniper rifle! My sweetheart always has been a sniper rifle!" she protested loudly, pouting as she stroked the weapon's barrel. A terrible idea, as she immediately pulled her fingers away and sucked on her singed fingertips, "Okay. Maaaaybe I've overdone it just a little bit on the firepower. That's really hot,"

"A little bit? A _little_ bit?" another engineer shouted, "Do you realise just how difficult it is to penetrate the hull of an alien ship? You melted through _three_ layers of thick, battleship-grade armour plate, with a _single_ shot!"

"What's this ruckus all about?"

"Weiss!" Ruby squealed, dropping her weapon and frantically motioning for her girlfriend and partner to come to her, "Come on! It works! It really, _really_ works!"

"What works?" the white-haired girl asked, before she was whisked away in a flurry of rose petals, "Hey - let me go, you dolt! I can walk! And have you seen Myrtenaster around? I thought I'd left it in my footlocker,"

"You walk too slowly. And Myrtenaster's with me," Ruby said, grinning as she dodged a playful slap from Weiss, "Anyway, I put some Elerium jelly into a Dust reaction chamber I made; just like you had in Myrtenaster. Scaled up, of course, and given a way to eject the energy forwards. Into the barrel instead of the blade of Crescent Rose! It works!"

The heiress stood stock still as she registered what Ruby had said. The Dust reaction chamber in Myrtenaster was intended to project the properties of Dust into the blade of the rapier. It had never been intended to work with any other fuel.

"Excuse me, could you repeat that?" she blurted out, unsure if her partner was insane or brilliant.

"Putting Elerium into a Dust reaction chamber works!"

The uncanny resemblance between Elerium crystals and Dust crystals. The amount of energy contained in each crystal. Its shape, its lustre, its glow in the dark nature. Even the sensitivity to shock and heat. She had noticed these before, of course, but not once did she think about grinding it down by hand to produce something that was usable.

"Ruby," she breathed, "You're a dolt. A careless dolt; a stupid, but _brilliant_ dolt," Weiss breathed, pulling her into a hug and kissing her forehead, "You...I...how did I not even think about putting powdered Elerium into a Dust chamber? Never mind that, how did you stop it from exploding in your hands?"

"I...well, I might have..." Ruby chuckled, blushing madly, "Promise you won't get mad at me?"

A bit of dread welled up in her stomach. When Ruby asked for Weiss to not get mad at her, it was a sure sign that something was wrong. Terribly, _terribly_ wrong. "I...will try? What's this all about?"

"I miiiight have...kind of...tried it on Myrtenaster first," the younger girl said slowly, slinking away from the white-haired girl when she noticed all colour draining out of her face, "And...I miiiight have...melted the blade..."

"You did _WHAT_?" Weiss shrieked. All of her previous adoration had vanished, replaced by abject horror. "Please. Please tell me that you're joking. You are joking, aren't you?"

"It's only a little bit melted," Ruby mumbled timidly, "I mean, I can always fix it! Honest,"

"Girl, if Ice Queen's talking about what I think she is, I don't think a _little_ bit melted is the right thing to say," an engineer said, shaking his head, "I'll be honest; you're going to have to make a whole new blade for it, if it can even be salvaged,"

Without saying another word, Weiss shoved past Ruby and marched up to the sole workbench inside the proving grounds. There, lying on the table beside a vice, was the handle and action of Myrtenaster; its previously flawless silver finish discoloured by some intense discharge of heat.

With a shapeless lump of metal where the blade once was.

A roar of righteous rage filled the Foundry. Right before a flash of red exited it with a trail of rose petals, followed by an enraged heiress all in white.

* * *

Later that evening, Ruby found Weiss already asleep in their dorm well before everyone else. The half-melted remains of Myrtenaster sat on her footlocker, on top of Wisteria. As Ruby touched the melted blade, she felt a pang of regret. This was a weapon that Weiss forged for herself well before arriving at Beacon Academy. She couldn't tell exactly how many battles it had been in, especially since the blade was now ruined; but if the number of assignments Team RWBY had already completed in Beacon was any indication, it was a very well-tested and trusted blade for the heiress that had survived many fierce battles.

And she had taken it without her permission, just to satisfy her curiosity about whether or not Crescent Rose could be upgraded. The weapon was as precious to Weiss as Crescent Rose was to herself, and she had so thoughtlessly abused it.

It was still not irreparably damaged. A new blade she could make; stronger and tougher than before, from alien alloy. She could give it a magnetic containment field, wrapping the edge in a coat of plasma. It wouldn't be the same, but it was a step in restoring her weapon to a usable state.

A soft sniffle from the top bunk caught the brunette's attention, reminding her that there were still other things to repair before the weapon. She climbed up to Weiss' bunk to peek at her, only for her eyes to peer straight into a pair of bloodshot ice-blue eyes.

"Weiss," she gasped, nearly falling off the ladder in shock.

"Ruby. What more do you want?" she murmured coldly, "Did you destroy Myrtenaster some more for your amusement?"

"No- I...I'm really sorry, Weiss. I really am," Ruby stammered. The heiress gave a skeptical grunt in response and rolled over, facing away from her.

"It will take more than words to prove that," grumbled Weiss, "Taking my weapon without permission...and then taking it apart, using it to test an unproven ammunition type. Then destroying it without telling me! Of all the nerve! Why did you even think of doing something like that? But of course, you probably don't even think before you act, do you?! Did you learn nothing from the number of times you've had a Dust explosion, back at Beacon Academy?"

Those words drove a knife into the younger girl's heart. A few days ago, they had all but declared their love for each other. Now they were at each other's throats, for no reason other than her own stupidity. It was her fault; she already accepted responsibility for destroying her partner's weapon. But if her partner could not forgive her any more, were they even partners any longer...?

Ruby looked sadly at the white-haired girl. She had turned to face the other side of the bed, so that her back was now to Ruby. "Can I...can I sit on your bed? I'd...I'd like to talk,"

"Fine, you may. Talk, then,"

The brunette climbed up, sliding under the covers of the bed to nestle herself behind the fuming older girl. "I know how much you liked Myrtenaster," Ruby whispered, "I don't know if it's anything like how I loved my sweetheart, but I don't think I've ever seen you without your weapon at Beacon. I admit I was wrong to take it without asking first, and I probably should have thought about what could happen if I put Elerium instead of Dust into the Dust cylinders of Myrtenaster,"

"...Then, why did you do it?" Weiss mumbled; still in an indifferent tone, though lacking the bite of her previous words.

"I overheard Dr. Shen. We're going to be deployed in a couple of days' time to raid a big alien outpost or something," Ruby said quietly, "I know we were running low on Dust, and I know how much you wanted to use Dust again. I thought that...that maybe we could use Elerium instead of Dust,"

"..."

"I know that you think that I like my guns too much. And that's probably true sometimes-"

"Most of the time,"

"-but this time, I wasn't doing this for myself. I was doing this for you,"

Ruby thought that she saw the heiress' shoulders stiffen, but dismissed it as being part of her hopeful imagination. Sighing, she shifted herself away from Weiss. "I just wanted to say sorry. I wanted to make you happy by allowing you to use Myrtenaster again. But I only ended up ruining it. I guess you...hate me now? Never mind, I'll be going..."

Before she could hop off the bunk, she found slender fingers holding on to her wrist. "Ruby, stay," Weiss whispered, "Come back,"

Raising an eyebrow, Ruby nodded and slid back under the covers. Bloodshot blue eyes met silver once again; Weiss had turned around again to face her. "I don't hate you, you careless dolt,"

"Then...?"

"Yes, you can be assured that I'm still angry with you for breaking Myrtenaster. You broke a weapon that served me well for quite a few years now. But that was not why I was so furious before," she said, running a finger down Ruby's cheek, "It was the way you stole Myrtenaster to do a silly experiment with very little thought about safety. Have you even asked for some papers about Elerium from Dr. Vahlen? About how much energy even a small amount of Elerium has? About how shock- and heat-sensitive it is, even compared to Burn Dust? Have you learned nothing about Dust safety since we first met?"

"I...uh, didn't really think about that," she admitted, scratching her head. She did stuff an entire cartridge filled with powdered Elerium into Myrtenaster, and then pulled the trigger as Weiss normally did - with predictably disastrous results. It was only after she asked for a plasma rifle's schematics from Dr. Shen that she had managed to get any results.

"Did your promise to myself mean so little to you?"

That unexpected question caused her mouth to dry up. "What?" Ruby croaked out stupidly.

"You said that _we_ would live through this war. Together, both of us. Not just myself, not just yourself. Us," Weiss seethed, sitting up and glaring at Ruby, "What would happen if Myrtenaster wasn't made strong enough to handle the energy discharge from that much Elerium? If the Elerium canister blew up in its cartridge holder? Do you even know how much energy is in that powder? Did you even realise that if that much Elerium detonated, it would probably take out half of Dr. Shen's armoury? Add to the fact that our Aura doesn't really work properly here, and I don't think you would have survived a spontaneous detonation!"

Weiss huffed as she caught her breath, still glaring at Ruby. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and tried to calm down. Her breathing returned to normal and she opened her eyes again, taking one of Ruby's hands in her own. "Look, Ruby. I'm mad at you for stealing Myrtenaster and breaking it. However, as precious as that weapon is, it's still a weapon. Given time, I know that you can repair the damage you have caused to it. Did you even think about how it would affect the rest of us if you blew yourself up?"

"No...I guess...I didn't,"

"Yang would have been devastated. You're one of the few family members she has left, and the only one that is with her at the moment. Blake views you as one of the few people she can trust," sighed Weiss, pulling Ruby towards her, "And myself? I would drag you back from the grave, screaming and kicking, if you did that, Ruby Rose. You are _not_ leaving me behind. Now for you, as punishment, are going to stay with me for tonight. Tomorrow, you'll fix what damage you caused. Is that clear?"

Ruby blinked. That was punishment? Well, as far as punishment goes, it seemed rather mild.

Or so she thought. Until Weiss pulled her into a rib-crushing embrace, snuggling tightly against Ruby's back, with Weiss nuzzling into the nape of her neck. Try as she could, she could not break free of Weiss' iron grip.

"Weiss. I- can't- breathe," Ruby gasped. The only response she got from her white-haired partner was an annoyed mumble, and even more pressure on her ribs.

"Remember, don't do anything you would ever regret,"

* * *

"Strike Six, Strike Three, report to the hangar in ten minutes for briefing,"

"Have you learned your lesson, _partner_?" Weiss said in a dangerously sweet voice to Ruby, who nodded very stiffly. "Good. I will hold you to that. No dangerous antics or escapades this mission. We will perform this mission methodically, safely and without taking risks. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Weiss," Ruby responded, shaking her head slowly. The white-haired girl in question smiled and unsheathed her newly reforged rapier, admiring the newly-forged alien alloy blade. The Dust projectors had been all but melted into a lump of slag by the runaway Elerium reaction a couple of days ago, but the weapon still functioned well enough in close-quarters combat. Particularly as the blade had been sharpened to a monomolecular edge.

An acceptable result, for a day's work. But there was a mission in front of them, and she needed to focus. They all needed to focus. She gave Ruby's hand one last squeeze before heading out of Strike Six's dormitory, hoping that the mission would be less traumatic than the last.

* * *

A/N

Having too much fun writing silly scenes in another fanfic xD This one got neglected for a while. Sorry folks!

A point has been raised by Playwars about Ruby knowing about bandits - that was S4, post-Fall of Beacon. This story follows the canon arcs of RWBY up to before the Vytal Festival, as far as the progression of characters is concerned, with Ruby's age bumped up slightly. I hope this clears up any confusion about what things characters may/may not be aware of at this point in time.

Allard-Liao: Yeah, sometimes Future Combat sucks in the short run because equipment does take a while to procure. It becomes a tradeoff for how many days of research are you slashing off through instant autopsies and interrogations - and therefore how many labs and powerplants would you need to fully compensate for all the halved research durations due to research credits from those - vs the cost of all the upgrades from the OTS. All the bonuses are actually pretty good, though it's arguable that the instant autopsy one is great for the early game boost for quick plasma research.


	13. 13 - Operation Still Night

Ruby was staring at her gauntlets again, flexing her fingers experimentally. It felt a little strange, having armour that covered them from head to toe (well, _neck_ to toe, considering that they had no helmets) with nearly no gaps in the armour plating to speak of; fitted so well that they might as well be a second skin, if not for its weight. The hydraulic joints of the Titan Armour did take much of the weight off its wearer, but the scythe-wielder still found it stiff and cumbersome to wear. She knew that Weiss hated wearing it as much as she did, but the armour's ability to absorb incoming fire was second to none.

A hand rested itself on her shoulder. "Something on your mind?" Weiss asked.

"No...well, yes, sort of..." Ruby mumbled, scratching her head, "I...I'd like us all to get back safely after the mission. I mean, I've led missions before, but that's only us. You know, Team RWBY. With Aura to protect us from any Grimm. This...this is different. I'm actually a bit scared. Not for me, but for...you know, everyone else,"

Weiss gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "You'll do just fine. I'm certain of it. I mean, I'll be helping you command, and I can't possibly be wrong, can I?"

On the other side of the ship, Blake and Yang snorted and coughed, rolling their eyes. "Hey, what's so funny, you- mmph!"

"The past is in the past. Right guys?" Ruby interrupted her, clamping a hand over Weiss' mouth. "Let's just get this done and go home together. Then we can have some drinks together! Who's with me?"

The three members of Strike Three looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders, confused as to what their temporary leader was trying to say. One of them eventually gave an uncertain thumbs-up, even as the rest of Strike Six (minus Weiss) cheered enthusiastically. A short cough from the cockpit of their Skyranger, however, halted their pre-mission antics.

"Heads up, Strike Three and Strike Six. We're approaching the site of the alien base," Big Sky said. The transport's engines were slowing down to a low whine, and they could feel that they were rapidly descending. "Your orders are to eliminate all hostiles on the site, and capture the alien leadership alive if possible. Avoid destroying as much of the base as you can; Central believes that there might be a significant amount of salvage inside. You are advised that we have very limited intel on the number of enemies present inside the alien base, but you may safely assume that there is a very large number of hostiles,"

"Well, isn't that just reassuring," Weiss commented sarcastically, once Ruby had lifted her hand from over her mouth.

"If it's any comfort to you, I'm having a real fun time trying to stop this bird from smashing into a rock formation. Hard to fly when you're in a cavern, you know," Big Sky shot back, "Anyway, doesn't look like there's enough room for me to land. Ropes are coming out; grab onto them and get down on the ground. Good luck, Strike Three, Strike Six,"

* * *

The ramp of the Skyranger lowered, allowing the assembled squad to have their first glances of the alien base. Given the pinprick of light far above them, the base must have been hundreds of metres below ground; and even then, the base itself was still quite some distance below. Even the Skyranger's rappelling lines almost didn't reach the floor of the alien base's landing pad, where a powered-down alien scout craft sat.

"Alright. It looks like we haven't been spotted yet. Let's keep it that way," Ruby whispered to the team as each member landed on the metal landing pad, "Blake, can you see if there are any aliens inside this ship?"

The cat faunus nodded and took off, causing Ruby to feel a pang of jealousy that Blake had been allowed to use a set of Archangel Armour instead of the Titan, as she had successfully argued with Bradford that as a scout, she needed mobility more than protection to be effective. That jetpack looked like it would be a lot of fun to use, not to mention useful in itself.

"Looks like it's empty," Blake said, emerging from the main ramp of the ship after half a minute.

"Alright. So at least we have a ship to escape on, if we really need to. I mean, one of you guys can pilot a ship, right...?"

Silence met her ears, and she sighed. "Never mind. Let's stay focused. Blake, you're up at the front again. If you hear or see anything, let us know. Yang, follow Blake!"

"On it, sis!" the blonde called out, stomping after the cat faunus. It was a good thing that the stealthy ninja of Team RWBY was much faster than the blonde brawler. After all, sneaking around was nearly impossible with a tail whose footsteps were capable of drowning out industrial machinery.

As they advanced into the alien base, Ruby could not help but examine their surroundings. Unlike the rigid, angular lines of the XCOM base, there didn't appear to be a single sharp corner anywhere in the alien base. As though it had been formed like an organic creature, or a sculpture, rather than something that had been constructed from hard metals. There was also a constant thrumming in the entire base, from all the power conduits that seemed to be running in the walls. Eventually, they came to an intersection.

Ramps on both sides led upwards on their left and right, while a tall wall blocked all vision on their front. Without another word, Blake threw Gambol Shroud at the ceiling and hoisted herself up, landing gracefully on top of the wall.

"What's up ahead, Blake?"

"It's a large open space. Two floors. Lots of...pods...filled with green stuff. I hear...scratching," Blake murmured. She shuddered as she remembered what the sound was. "There are some chryssalids around. I can't tell exactly where they are, but they sound fairly close. Three sectoids in the open, out in the middle; and there's a couple of mutons on the other side,"

"That's a lot of targets. Awesome!" Ruby whispered back over comms as she loaded an Elerium cartridge into Crescent Rose, "How about cover? How much can we use?"

"Plenty up on top, not so much down there. It shouldn't be too hard to drop the aliens,"

"Great. So, let's do this. Strike Three, I'll need you guys to find some cover on the right. Stay hidden for now. Yang, Weiss, and I will go to the left. Blake, you stay up there and let us know if you see anything coming,"

"Copy that, strike leader. Moving,"

They quietly crept up their respective ramps and took cover behind some large power conduits. The aliens still hadn't noticed anything; Ruby lifted up Crescent Rose, taking aim at the muton on the far side of the large room.

"Strike Three, you guys need to pick out a sectoid each and take aim. Blake, Yang, Weiss; you guys need to watch out for anything that might come out. Are we ready?"

"Yes, ma'am – I mean, Reaper!"

Ruby sighed as she heard the response from 3-3. It _always_ made her feel old to hear that. Regardless, she counted down under her breath.

"5..."

"4..."

"3..."

"2..."

"1...FIRE!"

The last word was screamed out; just as the sectoids turned around to look at the source of the sound, a hailstorm of hypersonic tungsten shards tore through their skulls, slaying them instantly. Crescent Rose fired a powerful beam of plasma across the hall, vaporising one muton on a chest impact and collapsing the gateway behind the mutons. A snap-shot adjustment later, and the second muton likewise turned into a cloud of ash.

"Yes!" Ruby cheered. Momentarily forgetting about the modifications that she had made to her weapon, she placed a hand to its barrel, only to flinch as the searing heat of the glowing red cooling sleeve almost burned through her glove. "Ow. Okay, I can't fire for about a minute. Crescent Rose is overheated,"

"3-3, watch out on your right!" Blake yelled, her ears twitching in the direction in which the scratching noises were getting louder. She looked upwards; her faunus nightvision allowed her to see a large man-sized ventilation duct in the ceiling – and a trail of sharp indents where blade-like feet had once dented it. With a creak and a groan, one of the panels of the ventilation duct crashed to the ground; three large chryssalids leaped down onto the upper floor of the room, right beside 3-3.

"I'm being flanked!" she yelled. One of the chryssalids immediately leaped at her, striking for her neck. As luck would have it, the chryssalid stumbled on the smooth metal floor, and its claw just scratched the collar of her armour. Immediately, the ceramic plate began to dissolve with a loud hiss, ejecting copious amounts of acrid black smoke. Before it could deliver another strike, a large force glyph materialised in front of 3-3; when the chryssalid struck the glyph, the creature was hurled backwards, smashing it against a wall and breaking its neck.

"Insect paste, coming right up!" Yang shouted, dashing across the room and propelling herself forward with a backwards shot of her gauntlets. The chryssalids shrieked in confusion when a flying blonde smashed its claw with a shotgun gauntlet, the miniature high explosive shell severing it completely. An uppercut delivered to its mandible sealed its fate, sending bits of chryssalid skull and brains high into the air.

The last chryssalid shrieked in fury and rushed at an unwary Yang with incredible speed. Blake, seeing her partner about to be struck down, hurled Gambol Shroud's sheath at the rushing alien. The single moment of hesitation caused by the heavy sheath shattering the metal floor in front of it gave Blake enough time to empty an entire magazine into the chryssalid. Crippled and bleeding, it gave one last pitiful wail before collapsing to the ground; one claw only inches away from Yang's boots.

"Damn, that was close," Yang whistled, picking up Gambol Shroud's sheath and tossing it to the cat faunus approaching her.

"Don't lose track of your surroundings, Yang. I don't want to be down a partner when we get back to Beacon," Blake said, shaking her head.

"Whatever. You had it anyway, didn't you?" the blonde shrugged, "Anyway, I wonder what's in those green tubes below,"

"Hmm. Good point. Hey, Blake, seeing as you can easily go up and down, you mind checking out what's in them?"

"Sure,"

The cat faunus vaulted over the edge of the second floor balcony, landing neatly on the ground floor. Holding up Gambol Shroud in its pistol form, she approached the nearest green-filled pod. What she saw inside made her gasp in shock.

There, inside the pod and floating inside the green fluid, was a familiar redhead. Floating serenely, as though she were simply sleeping while submerged.

"Pyrrha...?" she murmured, shaking her head. Did the aliens take others from Remnant too?

Glancing around, she noticed that there were three other pods that appeared to be filled. There was Nora in the one beside Pyrrha; and then Ren, and then Jaune. "Ruby...you might want to call Central about this. It looks like we've stumbled on Team JNPR, but I don't know what the aliens are doing to them,"

"6-3, you do not need to do that. We can see through your armour's built-in video feed," Bradford said through her earpiece, "Am I correct in assuming that you know who these abductees are?"

Blake nodded. "Yes. These are members of Team JNPR, from the same combat academy that Team RWBY – Strike Six, sorry – came from,"

"I see. I will order Big Sky to return to base and come back with some engineers to have them extracted from the alien base. For now, your current mission still stands. Central out,"

A moment of silence passed as Ruby thought about what she wanted to do. Her heart screamed out that she needed to break her friends out of the pods; but a part of her insisted that the mission had to go on. Eventually, she decided that completing the mission took priority. After all, once the base was cleared, they could rescue their friends at any time.

"Alright, people. Let's keep moving! Show these aliens who's boss!" she cried out, pointing at the smashed doorway on the other side of the room. Blake, ever perceptive, moved to the front of the group and crept along the wall, listening for any enemies in hiding. The tunnels ahead were wider than before, but no less dark. If anything, the dim green lights on the side of the floor did little to illuminate the path ahead.

"Wait, I hear something," Blake whispered, freezing mid-stride. "Footsteps...big, heavy footsteps. Coming this way,"

"Strike Three, overwatch! Yang, Blake, go together and move up slowly,"

Blake nodded stoically, pressing herself against the tunnel wall as she continued creeping forward. There was a glowing door on the far side of the corridor. When Yang and Blake approached closer, the shimmering force field covering it dispersed, revealing a group of nine mutons marching down the narrow corridor. There was also a strange mech behind it; thickly armoured, with two menacing cannon pods on the sides and what looked like a chin-mounted minigun on its front. Its six red eyes were scanning left and right for intruders, narrowly missing Blake as she dived behind a low wall.

Ruby took another look at the corridor. It was narrow, and there was almost no cover in it. If they fought here, they had no cover; and given the mutons' durability and heavy weaponry, they would be very rapidly overwhelmed by numbers _and_ firepower. Not to mention the unknown mech behind the lumbering aliens. They were, however, rather closely clustered in the tight confines of the corridor...

"Blake. Yang. You guys got grenades?" she whispered. Both of the girls looked back and nodded, detaching alien plasma grenades from their belts. "3-4, get your rocket out. On the count of 5, fire it. Blake, Yang, you guys get ready to throw the grenades just before the rocket hits,"

"5..."

"4..."

"3..."

Blake and Yang both nodded and pressed the arming trigger on the grenades.

"2..."

"1...FIRE~!"

"Suck on this!" yelled 3-4 gleefully, firing a large yellow rocket into the group of aliens, just as Blake and Yang threw the grenades as hard as they could into the centre of the enemy formation. Green plasma mixed with shrapnel blasted out from the centre of the formation, shredding the mutons into bloody chunks and sending a thick cloud of bloody dust into the air. "Yeah!"

Ruby and Weiss retched at the sight of the gruesome spectacle, but otherwise kept their breakfasts in. Blake and Yang, having ducked at the moment of the explosion, were spared the worst of it; but Blake heard something that made her blood turn to ice.

A metallic click and a whirring noise.

"GET DOWN!" she yelled at Ruby and the rest of Strike Three, right before she threw herself to the floor behind her previous cover. A torrent of plasma rounds ripped through the air with a dull whine through the dust cloud, saturating the entire corridor in a storm of green death. When the barrage stopped, she peeked up to see what it was that fired at them.

The squat mech – or rather, the _tall_ mech, given how its legs had extended and how it was towering nearly all the way to the ceiling – had its plasma rotary cannon spooled up. A single red laser mounted on the side of the cannon was pointed back at the XCOM team.

Specifically, at what remained of 3-4. The rocketeer had not been able to dive behind cover in time, and he was now simply staring blankly at his legs while shivering uncontrollably. Or more properly, the stumps of his legs, severed below his knees.

"Evac! We need an evac! Now, damn it, NOW!" he screamed, trying to claw his way back into cover. Something which the mech in front of them was not willing to allow, given how the red laser beam was tracking the crippled man.

"Yang! Bumblebee!"

"There's not enough room for that, you dolt! You'll get them killed!" Weiss shouted back at Ruby, "Is your rifle cooled down yet?"

The redhead pressed a finger to the barrel of the weapon. It was still warm to the touch, but it would hold. "Yeah, I think...I can get one shot in,"

"Then what are you waiting for? Disarm it!"

Blake watched in horror as the chin-mounted rotary cannon spun up again, preparing another barrage that would likely kill their rocketeer. A green-white lance of plasma struck the weapon before it released a single shot, however; the destabilised plasma inside the mech's weapon reacted violently, exploding outwards as though several grenades had detonated simultaneously. The mech produced an angry beeping noise as it staggered back, most of its frontal plating destroyed by its weapon's explosion.

But it was still standing. A single glowing 'eye' sat in its centre, the mechanical iris narrowing on the source of the damage. Quick as a flash, the eye glowed brighter for a split second before a particle beam shot out of it, nailing Ruby squarely in the chest and sending the young girl flying back into the first room, Crescent Rose skittering across the floor.

"Ruby!" yelled Weiss, horrified. She turned to face the mech with fury blazing in her eyes, "You...You'll pay for this!"

Unsheathing Myrtenaster, she projected a large force glyph behind her. Stepping on the glyph, she launched herself at breakneck speeds at the mech, lunging at its eye with the rapier. The alien alloy blade shattered the lens and struck deep. Now blinded, the mech was desperately flailing about to try and shake Weiss off its body; but with a glyph anchoring her to the mech's chassis ensured that it was a futile effort. With little regard for style or efficiency, the enraged heiress yanked out the rapier and hacked away at the exposed circuits hidden behind the eye with one hand clinging on to a bit of metal plating that she could reach.

"Die!" she screamed, thrusting the blade one more time into the mangled mech. The damage proved too severe; the mech's legs wobbled unsteadily and it collapsed to one knee. Orange sparks flew from its shredded circuitry; an earth-shaking explosion followed soon after, slamming Weiss against the floor with a loud crack next to Blake.

"Ouch. That looked painful," Yang murmured, helping Weiss stand. The heiress was panting, and she was clutching a hand to a crack on her armour's chestplate; there were spiderweb cracks all over the rear of her amour, but she was otherwise fine.

"I'm fine," she grunted, swatting Yang's hand away as she staggered to her feet. Looking back in the direction of the first room, she sighed with relief as she saw Ruby standing there leaning on Crescent Rose, with Strike Three's medic at her side. "3-2, is medical attention required for Ruby? And have you checked on 3-4?"

"Reaper should be fine, if a little bruised and winded. Her armour's seen better days, though," 3-2 responded, "Ablative coating's all gone, and the ceramic alloy's all but vaporised down to the kevlar undersuit. I've had to put 3-4 under for the rest of this mission. If there's one thing that I'll say is good about plasma wounds, it's that they don't bleed too much. He'll live, but he'll be discharged if he doesn't volunteer to be a MEC trooper,"

MEC trooper. Weiss shivered at the prospect of the 'upgrade' for the downed rocketeer. She still hadn't gotten over how unnatural and disturbing it was to see machinery fused to flesh like that. Some things were just never supposed to mix.

"I'm fine, guys! Really," coughed Ruby, wiping a bit of blood from a split lip, "Yeah, nothing too serious! I can still fight,"

"Good to hear, kiddo," 3-2 chuckled, "That was a nice shot, though. Blowing off a sectopod's rotary cannon...I didn't think I'd see that happening in my lifetime. Or to see a sectopod get stabbed to death by a sword. But we're still on a mission, here. Your orders, Corporal?"

"Well, we've come this far, haven't we? Let's keep moving. Blake, can you do what you do best, please?"

"Sure," replied the cat faunus, slinking away in front of them, "Wait. I'm hearing something really strange up ahead. Humming, but it's...got a pattern. A really, really pretty pattern,"

"Strike Three-Six, be advised, you are approaching the probable source of the alien signal. The alien's commanding officer must be up ahead. Normally, I'd say that there would be heavy resistance, but judging by the number of bogeys you've killed, there probably isn't many left at all," Bradford spoke, "If you can, capture him alive. An interrogation of an alien officer is sure to yield plenty of valuable intel. Also be advised that a Skyranger is en route, ETA fifteen minutes,"

Yang cracked her knuckles. "It'll be my pleasure," she said, grinning.

Looking at the remaining squad members, Ruby nodded. "Right. Let's finish this mission and go home! Who's with me?"

This time, 3-2 and 3-3 earnestly gave a thumbs-up. Smiling, the red-haired reaper sprinted forward, catching up to Blake and Yang in a flurry of rose petals.

Victory was almost at hand.

When they emerged from the doorway at the end of the corridor, they were greeted with a truly disturbing sight.

The entire room was brightly lit. Not by lights; but by hundreds of holographic displays, each showing a small section of what must be a place on Earth. Four Elerium power cores surrounded a slowly rotating, golden-pronged object in the centre of the room. It was emitting a faint hum; one that was rather pleasant to the ears for no discernible reason. And in front of it stood a lone sectoid. A sectoid which had a pinkish-red tinge to its normally ashen grey skin, and an orange glowing chest which rivalled the brightness of a rising sun. It had its hands over a control panel, projecting an eerie purple beam from its fingers into the device.

A sectoid commander, Ruby thought to herself, feeling a bit of fear rise up in her mind. One of these caused so much death in the first mission that Team RWBY had been on.

"That sectoid must be the commander of this base. Capture it alive if you can," Bradford ordered, "And if that is what I think it is, do _not_ destroy the device that it was using. It appears to be the alien communications relay that we have been looking for,"

Thinking that the sectoid was unaware, Yang rushed up to it, only to be rewarded with a flurry of plasma pistol bolts to the chest. Her armour had taken most of the damage; its surface was scorched, but it was not shattered. 3-2 and 3-3 both opened fire with their assault rifles, trying to catch the squat alien's legs or arms. With a nimble leap, the sectoid commander dodged the initial burst of shots, then ducked and weaved with incredible alacrity to a piece of tall metal panelling beside a power core.

"Dust, that burned," Yang gasped, throwing herself behind some cover when the sectoid commander fired another round of shots. "Blake, reckon you can take a shot at its arm? I can't punch it if it's still firing green crap at me,"

"I don't think that's a good idea. If I miss, or my shot goes through, I don't like the looks of that that...power core that it's hiding behind," replied the faunus through gritted teeth, "If it blows up, I don't think any of us are going to be alive,"

"Reaper! What should we do next? That thing's damned accurate, and we're going to find ourselves with no head left if this keeps up!" 3-3 yelled. A plasma bolt scorched the concrete beside her head. "Shit!"

"I'm taking the shot," Ruby said, unfolding Crimson Rose and using the scythe as a monopod. Seeing what was about to happen, the sectoid commander chattered angrily. Its eyes glowed a vivid purple; and then it shot out one hand, a purple beam from it latching on to the reaper's head.

 _Kill. Maim. Destroy._

"No...no! Get out...of my head!" Ruby wailed, clutching at her head. Her arms and legs moved on their own, as though she were a marionette. She saw herself grab on to the handle of Crescent Rose, lifting it up and turning around-

"No, anything but this!" she cried out in panic. Her legs were moving her towards Weiss. The scythe in her hands was raised high.

 _Kill._

She brought down the scythe against the wide-eyed heiress, who just barely dodged out of the way. The scythe's blade buried itself at least six inches into the plated floor, ripping out chunks of stone as she pulled it out of the ground.

Weiss noticed in the corner of her vision that 3-2 and 3-3 were fearfully levelling their guns at Ruby's back; their fingers quivering over their weapons' triggers. She barked out an order in panic, desperate to buy some time for her girlfriend. "Strike Three, capture the commander! If it is unconscious, I doubt that it can keep control over Ruby! Go! I'll keep her busy!"

She drew Myrtenaster once again, looking straight into Ruby's wide and panicked eyes. The girl was unlike herself; her blows were more powerful, more vicious than she had ever experienced during their sparring matches. Normally, she would be able to block and deflect the scythe's strikes, but if the way that the scythe penetrated the metal-plated stone floor was any indication, there was little chance of her being able to deflect it. Not without drawing on Aura, or resorting to some very dangerous glyph work on her part.

The two exchanged blows and parried every strike. Weiss' own thrusts and slashes were hesitant, for fear of injuring her girlfriend, while Ruby's controller evidently had no such qualms, lashing out with more strength than the reaper thought she even had in her arms. Years of fencing practice did not train her for defending against opponents with much heavier weapons, and she found herself being steadily forced back.

"Stop this. Please," Ruby begged, tears leaking out of her eyes. A flash of malice ran through her mind; the sectoid commander, though grossly outnumbered, was determined to ensure to bring down at least one of them.

"Yang! Hurry! I can't do this for much longer," Weiss panted. Ruby's strength and speed with the much heavier Crimson Rose was taking its toll on the white-haired girl. Every blow against the rapier sent tremors down her entire arm. Her fingers were numb and unfeeling, and she could see that her rapier was trembling in its guarding position, her arm unable to withstand much more punishment.

"I'm – trying! Why – won't – you – stay – fucking – still!"

And yet Ruby seemed to be still energised, swinging her weapon with as much force as when she started. The point of the scythe landed on Weiss' hand, shattering the gauntlet and breaking the bones in her fingers; with a loud shriek of agony, she dropped her weapon and fell to her knees, clutching her broken hand.

When she looked up again, Ruby had her weapon raised high for a killing strike. She – or rather, her controller – was not aiming at her neck. The sadistic alien, it seemed, was more intent on inflicting as much pain as possible in the process. Weiss closed her eyes, bracing for the impact.

And her world exploded in pain as she felt the point of the scythe smash into her back. Her armour, already cracked from the sectopod's core explosion, simply gave way when the razor-sharp point of the scythe struck. She felt her ribs break on one side, the blade shearing straight through and getting stuck against the unbroken front plate of her armour. A trickle of blood fell into her mouth, flooding her senses with a familiar coppery taste and smell.

"Sit down, you stupid ass!" she heard Yang shout, before she heard a loud _crack_ and a body slump to the ground. A sharp intake of breath and a louder cry of sorrow told her that the sectoid commander's hold on Ruby was broken.

"Weiss? Weiss! Stay with me!" she heard Ruby cry.

"Reaper, no! Don't remove it! She'll bleed out!" the medic shouted, "Detach the blade if you can, but for God's sake, do NOT remove it from the wound!"

A faint click and a clatter later, and she felt that the blade embedded in her was no longer threatening to push through her front. Faintly, she registered a pair of arms wrapping itself about her shoulders, and drops of wetness falling on the back of her neck.

"I can't...breathe," Weiss wheezed out, hacking out a glob of blood. The arms loosened their grip on her shoulders. Her breathing did not get any easier; every breath was a struggle, seemingly an exercise in futility, while the blistering agony in her right side only seemed to get worse.

The last thing she remembered before losing consciousness was the faint hissing of a medic's spray being applied somewhere behind her, and she knew no more.

* * *

Operation Still Night: After Action Report

Cpl. Ruby 'Reaper' Rose: Lightly Wounded  
LCpl. Weiss 'Ice Queen' Schnee: Critically Wounded, prognosis unknown.  
LCpl. Blake 'Shadowcat' Belladonna: Active  
LCpl. Yang 'Tiger' Xiao Long: Active  
LCpl. Carmen 'Needle' Elminster (Strike 3-2): Active  
LCpl. Vera 'Blitzkrieg' Romanov (Strike 3-3): Active  
Spc. Edward Schmeisser (Strike 3-4): Medically discharged

* * *

A/N:

-tries to peek at Grim Reaper's book- OW! What was that for?


	14. 14 - Convalescence

White.

That was everything that Weiss could see. Pure whiteness, everywhere her eyes could see; bland, featureless, unwelcoming. Sterile and unblemished.

White.

 _Am I...dead?_

She tried to speak, to call out to her team, but a sharp pain lanced through her chest before she could do so. Her hand was too heavy to lift, her body too numb to shift even the slightest amount. Her thoughts were muddled, as though somebody had drawn out her brain and substituted them with wads of cotton.

Blinking once, twice, and three times, her vision eventually cleared slightly. There was an intensely bright light above her; bright enough to sting and cause her eyes to water. Her ears vaguely registered a slow, steady beeping to her left. Where exactly was she? Trying to recall what had happened previously caused her head to throb dully.

Blood. That was the first image that she recalled. Lots and lots of blood. All over her arms, all over her legs – and even more down her suit of armour. She vaguely recalled seeing a lot more blood on the floor, all over her teammates, and seeing the floor zoom past unsteadily, as though she were being carried. Then the image of her girlfriend, covered in a lot of blood.

 _Ruby! Was she alright?_

The incessant beeping to her left sped up a little. Its sound was starting to grate on her ears; a persistent, tinny noise that she wished would just stop. Now slightly more alert, she could faintly feel the edge of a rubber cup of some sort over her mouth and nose. The stale scent of recycled air, while unpleasant, was a reminder that she was most certainly _not_ dead. At least the thick pile of cushions under her was somewhat comforting to have.

"Hm. It appears that Corporal Schnee is waking up,"

"She is!? She is? Ohmygoodnessletmeseeher-"

"Sergeant Rose, if you are not capable of restraining your excitement, I will have to ask you to remove yourself from my hospital ward. Behave. You've got about a minute before I have to continue with the next stage of her treatment,"

"But-"

"No ifs, or buts. She is still in a critical but stable condition, and any movement or undue pressure might aggravate her healing injuries. And I insist that you take a shower after this. For the sake of maintaining proper hygiene in a hospital, to say nothing of...your unsavoury aroma,"

Weiss heard a muted raspberry, before a familiar face appeared in her vision. Ruby loomed over her, a wide, relieved smile on her face; though if the bags under her eyes and the dishevelled state of her hair was any clue, she had not slept or rested well for quite some time, if at all. Her eyes were thoroughly bloodshot, and there were the telltale trails of dried tears on her cheeks.

"Hey, Weiss," she murmured, "I was so, so worried about you. We all were. I...I wasn't sure if you...you were going to make it. Crescent Rose's blade almost broke through the other side of your armour, and Dr. Vahlen said that I nearly hit your...your heart. If Yang didn't...didn't take down that sectoid commander...I don't want to even think about what would've happened,"

She trailed off, at a loss for words. Eventually, Weiss felt warm fingers wrap around her own. Had she the strength to return the gesture, she would have; but for now, she would settle for letting Ruby do what she needed to do.

After all, the dolt _did_ nearly kill her. This would be the least of what she would ask in return. Especially when she recovered.

"Alright. Time's up, Sergeant Rose. Please leave the ward, we're about to start the next round of reconstructive therapy for Corporal Schnee,"

Another soft squeeze on her fingers and soon Ruby left, leaving her alone with Dr. Vahlen. If Weiss had been any more alert and capable, she would have rushed out of the hospital room as quickly as her legs could carry her. But being unable to even lift her little finger, she resigned herself to whatever treatments the doctor had in mind for her.

Not that she would even be aware of anything, of course. A faint hissing noise came from somewhere to her left, and soon she felt herself drift off into a deep, dreamless sleep once again.

* * *

The next time she awoke, she found that she was still in the same room as before. At least the lights overhead were dimmed, and her eyes no longer burned from just looking straight ahead. The sharp pains in her chest whenever she took a breath were no longer as intense as they had been before, though the breathing mask still covered her nose and mouth. A quick look down showed that she had nothing on aside from a hospital gown.

When she tried to sit up, though, a hand grabbed her arm and held her down. "Hey, snow princess. Didn't think you'd be up so early," Yang said, yawning, "Don't sit up, or Rubes is probably gonna kill me,"

She moved her lips to reply, but even trying to speak was excruciatingly painful; as though someone had thrown broken glass into her lungs and left every piece behind after stitching her back together again. Thankfully, for Yang was actually being thoughtful for once and pulled out a scroll, with a blank notepad app on it. With a bit of help adjusting her cushions and pillows, she could finally rest slightly tilted, with one hand able to reach the scroll and still be able to see it out of the corner of her eye.

"There. You won't be able to speak or...well, eat or breathe normally for like a week. At least your fingers are still okay, so you can still write or type,"

 _'How long was I out for?'_ she wrote on the device.

"Close to a week, now. Dr. Vahlen's kept you asleep for the whole time after the operation," Yang said, making a face, "I had the job of making sure that you were clean and your sheets weren't soiled. Nice ass, by the way,"

Weiss' cheeks burned at that comment. Yes, keeping a teammate clean when they were bedridden had happened to all of them at some point or another during their time in Beacon; but at least she had been careful enough to avoid that embarrassment herself.

 _'Did you really have to say that?'_

"Yep! Totally worth it, just to see your reaction," Yang giggled, a shit-eating grin on her face, "Just kidding. I didn't see anything. Ruby insisted on looking after you when that time of day came about. Every single time, right on the dot. The only thing I got to do was lift you off the bed once she's done giving you a wash so that she can change your sheets,"

 _'And Dr. Vahlen has no nurses to do this? Are you still training?'_

"Honestly? Bradford wanted to chew our ears off about it because Vahlen has people to help with her patients. But Dr. Shen and Papa Bear insisted that it was a good 'team building exercise', so...that's that, I guess,"

A few minutes passed without either of them saying a single word (or in the case of Weiss, writing on the scroll). Weiss, however, noticed that Yang was bouncing up and down on her toes anxiously while looking around the room, as if checking if anyone else was there.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

Weiss considered whether or not to answer. But knowing Yang, refusing to answer was likely the worse of the two options she had.

 _'Go ahead...?'_

"So, I heard from Blake that Rubes has a thing for you. Something about her cat-faunus side being able to smell my sister's...hormones or something all over you,"

Now her cheeks _really_ burned in embarrassment. She knew that Blake had the excellent hearing of a cat, as well as the nightvision of one. But a cat's sense of smell, too? That was just too much.

 _'Pheromones might be what she was trying to say,'_

"Hormones, pheromones, same difference. She smelled something of Rubes on you. Anyway, fact is, I think she's actually right, and my sister somehow fell for you, Snow Princess. Thought that you two were just sharing a bed to keep her nightmares away, but it's something more, eh?"

Weiss hesitated in writing her answer. Yang's protectiveness over her younger sister was legendary in Beacon, and everyone that did _anything_ to Ruby – Grimm or otherwise – often found themselves face-first in the dirt within seconds. _'If I said yes, what would you do?'_ she replied, dreading the answer.

"If you told me after the first time I saw both of you in the same bed," Yang hummed thoughtfully, "I probably would've punched you. Hard. But now? I'm not so sure any more,"

 _'Explain,'_

She sighed and ran her hands through her hair. "It's...different with you. Normally, I'd have thought Ruby was too innocent, and anyone that's trying to go out with her is trying to...well, abuse her innocence, if you know what I mean. But back in that mission? I heard that Bradford was ready to authorise the other two guys to shoot Ruby dead if she was threatening the mission's success. You probably know this too, right?"

Weiss nodded ever so slightly, knowing exactly the orders that Bradford would have given. The man was utterly convinced of the necessity to achieve results at any cost; particularly on such a critical mission. If Ruby were obstructing the mission in one way or another - even under the influence of mind control - she was certain that he would have ordered the others to shoot her.

"Yeah. I know what you're thinking," Yang muttered, shivering, "If you didn't step in and start to keep Ruby busy, I wouldn't have had enough time to drop that stupid mind-controlling alien. You stood your ground when you could've just run away. And that...well..."

 _'You know as well as I do that I wouldn't give up on a teammate, right? We're a team, and we don't let any one of us go down without a fight,'_

"Yeah, I get that now. Wouldn't have thought you had it in you, Snowflake. But I guess I'm wrong...and...well, shit, this is hard for me to say. I thought that I was one of the only people looking out for Ruby full-time, but it looks like you're doing the same,"

Weiss wished that she could laugh, but stopped when another sharp pain racked her lungs. _'You didn't count Blake?'_

The blonde puffed up indignantly. "Well, she is my partner, you know, in more ways than one. And she does look out for all of us as teammates. You do as well. And...what I was going to say is that if Ruby is going to have a partner – and a girlfriend – I wanted someone that would look after her properly,"

 _'I assure you that a Schnee does not lack for propriety when it comes to treating their partners well,'_

"Pfft. Sure, Snowflake, sure. Just like how you dealt with Ruby for the first few weeks after our initiation. But now? I think as far as partners go, you'd be the first one that I think would be alright for little Rubes,"

 _'So your whole point was that you were trying to state your approval of my relationship with Ruby? I didn't think that I needed YOUR approval to date her,'_

"Yeah, you don't need my approval to date her. You need my approval if you want to date her without ending up face-first on the floor, though. And right now, you've got my approval, and she's really head-over-heels about you. There's only one more small thing..."

Yang leaned in so that her nose was touching the rubber breathing mask, making sure that her eyes flashed red angrily close up. "...You make her miserable or sad, ever, and you'll be dealing with me. Got it?"

 _'That won't happen,'_ Weiss wrote back truthfully, hoping that her answer would placate Yang.

To her relief, the blonde smiled in return. "Good. Glad that's sorted out. I think Dr. Vahlen should be coming back in to check on you in a bit. Have fun!"

* * *

It took another week before Dr. Vahlen was willing to discharge Weiss from under her care, after a regimen of relentless reconstructive therapy and countless injections of strange chemicals. Her ribs were still tender, and on occasion spikes of pain would still surge through her back; but at the very least, she could finally be free of the indignity of being sponge bathed and tube-fed every day. She still wasn't permitted to rejoin missions for another week.

However, that did not mean that she was idle. For a Schnee would be caught dead before she would be caught lazing about.

"Test batch sixteen. Ninety-nine-point-five percent Elerium, zero-point-five percent Burn Dust. Testing efficiency of conversion," Weiss muttered into her scroll, recording the experiment in the armoury. She had reforged Myrtenaster's original Dust cylinders with Ruby's help, and had now set it up on a heavy lead sled, fitted with a dummy steel blade aimed at a wall of metal plating. A small sample of Burn Dust-infused Elerium sat on the bench beside her, safely stowed inside a large cylinder of liquid nitrogen.

She carefully adjusted the Dust dispenser on the rapier to add a mere drop of blended Dust on the weapon's blade. Where normal Burn dust would use a rather large amount to produce sufficient power, an Elerium blend was exponentially more powerful while retaining the original properties of the Dust infusion. So much so, that her original blade had suffered a catastrophic meltdown. Even now, a one-gram mist applied to the rapier was sufficient to produce a directed blast of greenish-white flame sufficient to incinerate metal plating and leave its blade glowing red-hot immediately after.

"I must admit, this line of research is...fascinating," murmured Dr. Vahlen, quickly typing down her observations, "The sheer variety of possibilities that Dust blending opens...it's mind-boggling. Noted, four armour plates vaporised, fifth heavily melted. Blade does not appear to have sufficient structural integrity to sustain another charge. Suggest reducing quantity of Elerium blend used,"

She had taken interest in Weiss' side project after she had run out of alien corpses to carve apart, and walked past Dr. Shen's armoury while a live test was ongoing. She had persuaded Bradford that the line of research had promise, and requisitioned several canisters of Elerium recovered from a few alien ships by Strike One. With the help of Dr. Shen and Weiss' extensive knowledge of safe Dust handling and use, they had produced a few new weapons.

The first had proved immensely useful for causing alien space vessels to crash. They had found that mixing a minute fraction of Gravity Dust with some Elerium – and then triggering it with a sharp jolt of electricity – caused a small, short-lived singularity to burst to life. While the first time they had discovered the effect had very nearly caused half the Foundry to be sucked into the miniature black hole, the results had been spectacular in space. Battleships could be severely damaged with a single missile, while scout vessels' engines could be overloaded to shreds with the same charge. Just five had been produced so far, resulting in five rather violently disabled alien ships with no survivors on board – and rather gruesome wall decorations where the crew once were.

The others, however, had proven too volatile to use for infantry weapons. In minute quantities, Dust-Elerium blend explosives had issues detonating, while in larger quantities they threatened the safety of the user with their immense area of effect. And so Bradford reluctantly relegated the use of the weapons for space-to-space combat, where collateral damage was negligible.

"Test batch seventeen. Ninety-nine-point-five percent Elerium, zero-point-five percent Burn Dust. Eighty percent quantity," Weiss said, carefully unscrewing the red-hot blade from Myrtenaster and replacing it with another steel blank, "Dr. Vahlen, how are my friends doing...?"

"The rest of Strike Six is on a mission, and I believe that Central Officer Bradford had said that they were returning at this moment,"

Scowling a little, Weiss flicked the trigger on Myrtenaster and frowned when a thin, feeble needle of dull red embers fell onto the steel blade. "Failure. Larger quantity required for sufficient effect. And no, Dr. Vahlen, what I meant was my friends who were recovered from the alien base,"

For once, the German scientist did not reply immediately. Weiss looked up from her scroll, only to find that Dr. Vahlen was biting her lip. "Your friends are in a...stable condition," she spoke carefully, "They are in no immediate danger, but neither can we resuscitate them yet. The aliens have subjected them to some unknown compounds, and we will not risk reviving them with the usual medicines that I normally use,"

Sighing, Weiss loaded her rapier again. So they had recovered Team JNPR, only for the members of said team to be left comatose until Dust knows when. It was not an ideal situation, but at the very least she could be content that the aliens had not butchered them or experimented upon them in some way or another.

* * *

A/N:

A bit of a filler chapter here. Easing off the missions for a bit.

A special thanks to Playwars5 for beta-reading this chapter. Catching mistakes is much easier with a second set of eyes looking through your work. ^^

It's been a while since I last updated this, and honestly I blame Civilisation 6. Somebody please stop giving Gandhi the uranium :/


	15. 15 - Operation Deathless Watch

It appeared that when Fate saw fit to give the besieged defenders of Earth a gift, she also saw fit to punch them in the face soon afterwards.

Dropping ship after ship with enhanced Dust-infused munitions, Central Officer Bradford believed that for once, he could afford to relax a little as XCOM pilots shot down enemy crafts of all sizes with terrifying efficiency. Neither Shen nor Vahlen lacked research materials, and the armouries were very well stocked with both Elerium and alien alloys captured from destroyed enemy craft. Panic across the globe was decreasing steadily, owing to the fact that the only time an outsider ever caught a glimpse of an alien craft since the alien base raid, it was one that was descending to the surface in flames – with a telltale XCOM interceptor hot on its tail. For once, the citizens of the world felt truly safe.

But if the guardians and watchers were busy watching and defending those who could not defend themselves, who was watching their backs?

The forces of evil never slept. They were ever watchful, ever patient. Always waiting for the perfect moment to strike; that single brief moment when the slightest hint of complacence crept into the guardians' minds...

It all happened when Ruby was with Strike One in the command centre of the base, preparing for a joint mission. Weiss was still in the barracks, helping Blake and Yang with the maintenance of Ember Celica and Gambol Shroud. Papa Bear was leading her around, walking her through the next plans of what they would do against the aliens. As Dr. Vahlen had almost completed her investigation of what they dubbed the 'hyperwave relay', a communications device capable of transmitting messages at superluminal speeds, which apparently reacted strongly with the latent psionic energy stored in sectoid commanders' remains, they believed that the device would be able to locate further alien bases on the planet – or elsewhere – allowing them to finally strike back at the aliens' leadership.

But at a certain point, Ruby's mind was starting to trail off what Bradford and Papa Bear were talking about. She passed by a wall of surveillance camera feeds, watching what other people were doing out of boredom. There were a few maintenance crewmen in the barracks common room, lounging around as they drank their morning coffee; Dr. Shen was in the armoury, testing some bulky prototype weapon that she couldn't recognise; Dr. Vahlen was checking on the capsules containing Team JNPR; and in the mech bay, there was a dazed-looking fellow stumbling about near a forklift, carrying a small square object in his hand.

At that moment, the hologlobe and all the lights in the command centre started to flicker. Every last one of the security feeds blacked out; a powerful tremor rocked the entire facility, dropping the room into darkness for a second before the backup generators kicked back on.

Ruby stared at the security feeds in horror. The mechbay erupted in a large explosion; the crewmen in the barracks common room glanced at a guardsman who approached in surprise, before the guardsman raised a pistol and shot all of them in the head at point-blank range. Thankfully, Yang dashed out of one of the side rooms and knocked him out cold with a punch to the jaw. The armoury's SHIV units had all activated, and were now shooting at rogue XCOM members, all of whom had an all-too-familiar purple glow behind their eyes.

"Mind control! Zey are close enough to pull off mind control!" hissed Eleanor. The woman had both of her plasma pistols unholstered, her eyes narrowed at the ceiling. For a moment, Ruby was completely confused; but as she followed the woman's gaze, she realised that she was looking at ventilation ducts.

"Bradford! Get the command crew to the safe rooms! Now!" roared Papa Bear, revving up his plasma machinegun. "Strike One! Form up!"

"There should be a console that I could use from there where I can access all the data feeds from the base," Bradford replied, nodding to Papa Bear, "I'll keep you all updated on the situation. For now, stay alive, all of you,"

"Yes, now go," he said brusquely, aiming at the ceiling vents.

Sure enough, a claw ripped through one of the armoured vent covers as though it were made of tissue paper. With a loud screech, the cover was ripped to shreds, and a pair of chryssalids fell down into the command centre. One was immediately gunned down by Papa Bear, while the other received two bolts of plasma to its head from Eleanor.

"Everyone that isn't prepped for combat, get the hell out of here! That's an order!" Bradford bellowed, as he dashed for the blast doors leading further down into the facility. All of the other command staff followed suit, leaving only half of Strike One plus Ruby inside the command centre.

"Well, Reaper, looks like it'll be an interesting day," Papa Bear murmured, glancing cautiously at the rest of the vents above them.

Over the crackling of a damaged light, they could hear the stomping of numerous feet on metal and concrete; so many, that it was impossible to tell which direction the aliens were coming from or how many there were. A loud bang came from the far side of the room, however, and the alarms blared on that side.

"Security breach in ventilation room, upper levels. Command centre blast doors sealing...error, blast door controls unresponsive. Manual override required," a computerised voice droned over the loudspeakers in the room, "Warning, security breach detected. Please evacuate in a calm, orderly fashion,"

"Not going to happen, chips. We stand our ground. Everyone, find cover and cover that door. Anything that moves from there, blast it,"

The telltale whoosh of rocket boosters told them precisely what was coming. "Floaters and drones! Take them down!"

Crescent Rose barked once, twice; two floaters dropped down with gaping holes in their chests. A barrage of green plasma rained death on everything else, courtesy of both the colonels present, dropping a swarm of little cyberdisc drones. But when the cyberdisc itself came through the doorway, they were unprepared for a high-powered shot that shattered the concrete pillar that Maria was hiding behind.

"Temptress, you okay?" Papa Bear shouted, tossing a grenade that detonated just below the cyberdisc.

"Just a little burn. _Mierda,_ that stings," she hissed, shaking bits of concrete from herself. Blood trickled down her left arm, where a gash above her shoulder was.

"Get yourself patched up and start firing on these bogeys!"

"On it, Papa Bear. Give me...a few seconds,"

Another pair of cyberdiscs floated into the room from the breach on the other side of the room, though fortunately these ones shot very wide. The catwalks above them took the majority of the damage, melting under the powerful particle beams that they fired.

"Reaper! We need zis breach sealed, on ze double!" Eleanor barked. She had holstered her pistols and pulled out a plasma sniper rifle, blasting a clean hole through the centre of one cyberdisc. The other one bobbed and weaved, causing her second shot to miss. " _Merde!_ A miss! _"_

"I got it!" Ruby shouted, using her Semblance to throw herself at supersonic speeds and catching the remaining cyberdisc with the blade of Crescent Rose. At such speeds, the scythe blade simply cleaved the creature in two, leaving only sparking halves behind on the floor. "Okay, so uhh...what do I do now?"

"There should be a red button somewhere near that door. Hit it and it'll close!" Maria called out, barely dodging another drone's particle beam, " _Mierda_. Hurry!"

The red reaper fumbled a little before she managed to find the red button, covered by a hardened glass case. Hearing the rocket engines of another cyberdisc about to come around the corner, she simply smashed the case with the end of Crescent Rose, shattering it and cracking the button behind.

"Manual emergency override verified. Closing in five...four...three...two...one..."

The thick steel blast doors slammed shut just as the cyberdisc came through; the hardened shell of the cybernetic creature could hardly resist the multi-ton pressure of the high-pressure rams that pressed the doors together. Only the front half made it through, wires and components still sparking as they tumbled out of its crushed and mangled form.

"Good work. That's one less way that the X-Rays can come into the command centre. Central, do you copy?"

"I hear you five-by-five, One-actual. We're reactivating base defense systems as we speak. There are four alien supply ships on the surface; we suspect that they are full of alien reinforcements,"

"Fuckin' Christ. Four fucking ships of reinforcements?" cursed Papa Bear, his face hardening in disgust, "Tell me you've got a plan,"

"We've scrambled all available interceptors from our base in Mexico loaded with singularity warheads, but it'll be another half hour until they arrive. Defence turrets are active in the mech bay, the hangar and outside the base; and the front gate is currently sealed, but our satellite scans indicate that there's a huge number of troops moving towards the entryway. We've got all our SHIV units coming out of the armoury to your position now; they should arrive in two minutes,"

"At least that's some excellent news," joked Maria. When she caught Papa Bear's glare, however, she meekly added, "Okay. I'll shut up now,"

"Strike One, be advised that we are detecting a very large number of hostiles moving your way. Heat signatures indicate that these are likely all biological. We're trying to re-establish the connection to the barracks as we speak, but it seems that several of our operatives have been compromised by mind control. Audio feeds suggest that there is a firefight down there at this moment, and we are unsure of the status of operatives in there,"

"Weiss!" Ruby gasped, remembering that the rest of Team RWBY was still in the barracks before the aliens attacked the base.

"Focus on the here and now, Reaper. We've got incoming!" barked out Papa Bear, spinning up his weapon and spraying the ventilation ducts with plasma fire. Several sectoids fell out as the plasma fire tore into the metal ducts; some were killed instantly, while others still had enough fight in them to let off several poorly-aimed shots at whoever was nearest. One even fell right next to Ruby, who promptly cleaved it in two with her scythe.

"More coming from this side!" shouted Strike One's engineers. Both Shang and Singh were rapidly firing their plasma rifles at an oncoming tide of chryssalids and sectoids, backed up by Li who was unloading shell after shell from his shotgun at those that came too close. "We need backup, now!"

"Hardcase, Atlas. Get over there and kill those insects. Dominatrix, Reaper, you're with me. Take up a position and shoot anything that moves that isn't human,"

"Affirmative, One-actual," Wilson grunted, echoed by Carson. The MEC troopers stomped over towards the beleaguered engineers, laying down a withering barrage of high-calibre rounds from their autocannons. Slowly but surely, the tide of insectoid aliens was pushed back by the merciless hail of high explosive shells, blasting chunks of chitin and blood everywhere.

Another wave of sectoids came down from the ventilation ducts, this time more numerous than the previous waves and accompanied by a number of chryssalids and a pair of muton elites. "Damn, they just don't let up!" snarled Papa Bear. His weapon beeped angrily as it ran out of energy. "I'm dry! Dominatrix, Reaper, cover me!"

"I'm trying, Papa Bear!" Ruby cried out, parrying a chryssalid's claw with the blade of her scythe. A shot to its face launched it clear across the room in pieces, but another three took its place, their claws ready to strike the girl down. A lightning-fast duel ensued, blades clashing against claws and chitin; bits of chryssalid flew left and right as the scythe's improved blade ripped into alien flesh. However, a glancing blow to her arm from one of the chryssalids knocked her off balance; by the time she recovered, one of their claws was already hovering just inches from her eyes, descending rapidly.

Only for a white-hot bolt of plasma to pass in front of her, severing the claw at one of its weak joints. "Keep your eyes open, zis is not over yet!" Eleanor shouted. Her pistols continued to unload on the enemies, headshot after headshot.

"Thanks!" Ruby gasped, reloading Crescent Rose and shooting a sectoid that was about to fire on Papa Bear. A little too late, however, as one of its shots blew off a chunk of his armour, causing him to hiss in pain. "Papa Bear!"

"Glancing hit. I'm fine, it's only a flesh wound. Keep shooting!" he grunted, ignoring the smell of burnt plastic and skin, "Central, status report?"

"Situation in the barracks is under control, but Two-actual, Three-actual and Five-actual are all down. Sectoid commanders are all dead in that sector. Armoury and engineering are both clear, thanks to the older SHIVs that were forced to work. We've got operatives in the barracks ready to engage the enemy, but they're in disarray; the aliens took out almost all of the command officers. One of you needs to come down and regroup them. Hold up, we're picking up more heat signatures. Bigger ones are inbound, Strike One; the ventilation ducts are clear, but the front gates are breached. There's at least two dozen mutons heading down that tunnel, and that's before they took out our surveillance cameras,"

Two dozen mutons. The large, lumbering creatures were almost like Ursai to Ruby; tough, slow, and rather difficult to kill. One or two were fine, but two dozen? It would take too long to kill them all before they'd all get overrun.

"...Copy that, Central. Strike One will hold the fort in the command centre for as long as we can," Papa Bear replied, shutting off his mic. For a moment, he simply stood there in silence, as though contemplating something; then he turned to face Ruby, a grim smile on his face.

"Well, Reaper, looks like you get to take the cubs up to fight. We'll hold them off here for as long as we can,"

"But I can fight!" protested Ruby, "You'll get killed if you're only fighting here on your own! Let me help!"

"This is not the time to be talking back, cub. Your sniper rifle isn't going to be able to kill the mutons fast enough, and I don't have enough ammunition to last the whole invasion. Get down there, and bring back some reinforcements,"

"But..."

"No buts, cub. Now go. Grab whoever is still up in the barracks, and bring them back here,"

The first blasts of plasma melting the walls of the mech bay beyond the command centre could be heard, along with angry shouts from the XCOM operatives that had cobbled together a makeshift defense in that room. Shakily, Ruby bit back the urge to retort and nodded. This wasn't a battle that they could fight on their own; she had no Aura, and limited use of her Semblance. She needed others that were still able to fight.

"I'll be back soon! I promise!" she shouted, dashing towards the circular door that headed to the elevator, peeking at the furious firefight that was happening inside the mechbay. Strike Two was holding the line, along with quite a few mechanics and other support staff who had been forced to pick up guns and fight back; though with the tide of aliens swarming in through the main gates, they would no doubt be overwhelmed eventually.

"Come on, come on..." she muttered impatiently, hammering repeatedly on the elevator's control panel. It beeped in complaint, though soon the metal contraption zoomed down into the lower levels of the base.

When the door slid open, she was greeted by the sight of a dozen laser gunsights aimed all over her body. "Don't shoot! It's my sister!" she heard Yang shout out, and the red dots painted on her body soon vanished from sight. A quick look around the barracks showed that there were dozens of sectoid bodies scattered all over the floor in various states of dismemberment. Weiss was kneeling in one corner, panting and clutching at her chest as she was being tended to by another squad's medic while Blake held her steady.

"Yang! Where's everyone!?" Ruby yelled, pushing past the squad and getting to her sister.

"You're looking at them. What's going on, Rubes? The lights just flickered out and suddenly we're swimming in aliens! We were lucky that we had our weapons in our room,"

"The base is under attack! Papa Bear's holding them off at the command centre with the rest of Strike One and Strike Two, but there's hundreds of the aliens out there. We need to get there, _now_!" she cried out, causing several of the operatives to look at each other before nodding.

"On it, Reaper," one of them replied in a deep voice, "Strike Four, on me! We're going up!"

"Strike Three, let's go!"

A dozen operatives immediately saluted and marched to the elevator, keen on rejoining the fight up top.

"Weiss? Are you okay?" asked Ruby, turning to her injured girlfriend. The plates of her armour's chestplate had a large burn on its front where a plasma bolt had struck, but thankfully did not penetrate. Judging by the hacking cough that the heiress had, though, it had likely hurt far worse than it looked.

"I'll be fine. You go on ahead, I'll catch up later," she wheezed, pushing Blake weakly away and sitting down on the side of the room.

Ruby looked at Weiss, and then at the retreating forms of the other squads' operatives. She wanted to stand by Weiss and make sure that she was safe; but on the other hand, if she did not go and lead these men and women, there wouldn't be _anything_ left to save at all if the base were to be overrun. Sighing, she walked to Weiss and squeezed her hand gently. "Alright. Stay safe, Weissy. Blake, come on!"

* * *

The elevator ride back to the command centre was no less nerve-wracking than the ride down. Every so often, an explosion would rock the base, causing bits of dust and earth to fall from the ceiling. The power on the elevator had by that stage fallen to emergency levels, shrouding it in a dim red light. Only the bright lights on the control panel stayed fully lit, slowly counting its way through the floors of the XCOM base.

"Ground floor. Command centre," the announcer spoke, and the elevator doors slid open. The men and women of Strike Three and Strike Four charged out, guns blazing at the surprised alien forces that were almost into the command centre. Several sectoids immediately fell dead under the hail of mixed laser and plasma fire, while the some of the mutons managed to find cover in time. Fury raged in every single one of the operatives' faces as they saw the remains of engineers that had been forced to fight; without armour, they had been torn to shreds by incoming fire and explosives.

"Strike One, reinforcements are inbound. Stay focused," Bradford spoke through the base's communications network, "Strike Three, Strike Four, be advised that there are still at least a dozen mutons present in the mech bay. Strike One requires immediate relief in the command centre,"

"Alright, guys, go!" Ruby cried out, "Strike Three, Strike Four, defend the mech bay entrance! We'll help the rest of Strike One!"

"Will do," their leaders responded, taking cover behind what was left of the supplies present in the mech bay.

"Yang, Blake, come with me. We have to help Papa Bear,"

A quick look at the command centre revealed evidence of a terrible firefight. Almost all the pillars in the room had been melted or shattered; all the consoles were smashed, and a smoking crater was left where the hologlobe once was. Ruby gasped in horror when she noticed a large, blackened bloodstain on the ground with what looked like the mangled remains of an arm next to it, and what looked like hundreds of little pieces of chryssalids scattered about. Another look to her right revealed the bodies of the two engineers of Strike One – or rather, half of each one, having seemingly been torn apart by a plasma grenade.

"Reaper. Took you...long enough," Papa Bear growled, spitting out a bit of blood. The stub of a chryssalid claw was sticking out of the right side of his chest, and he was swaying slightly on the spot even as he wielded his machinegun unsteadily with one hand. Eleanor looked only slightly better; she was limping along on one leg, with the left part of her face burned beyond recognition.

"Papa Bear! Come on, let's get to Maria, she can fix you up!"

"That's not going to happen, Reaper. Temptress blew herself up with a grenade when she got surrounded by chryssalids. Took out eight of them before they could reach us,"

"She blew herself up?" Yang gasped, aghast.

Eleanor nodded gravely. "Oui. Zat she did. You know very well what happens to victims of chryssalids. She died to save us from being overwhelmed by its spawn. But zis is no time to stand and talk! Central, what is ze status of Strike Two and the SHIVs?"

"Strike Two is KIA. SHIVs are destroyed. Everyone on ground level, be advised; you have another wave of inbound hostiles. Heat and electromagnetic signatures indicate that there are very large numbers of both organic and mechanical enemies coming in through the main gates,"

"Merde. Please tell me zat those interceptors are inbound soon. Strike One is down to just myself and Papa Bear,"

"Affirmative. Interceptors are fifteen minutes out; we only need to hold out just a little longer,"

Fifteen minutes. Ruby felt despair grip her heart for a brief moment. Fifteen minutes was not terribly long in any battle; but with how few trained operatives they had left at their disposal, fifteen minutes was far too long.

"Strike Three, requesting reinforcements! We're being overrun! Only one autoturret is left!"

"We read you, Strike Three. Moving to overwatch position. Give the x-rays suppressive fire!" coughed Papa Bear. He grunted and staggered towards a nearby ladder, using his machinegun as a walking stick. "Eleanor. Help me up to the upstairs balcony. If I can't use my right arm to aim this damned gun, then God help me, I will use the damn railings as a gun mount!"

"Papa Bear, you shouldn't-"

"I will fight until I drop, Reaper. This is no time to be taking a break," he growled, with his second-in-command helping him along. Slowly, with a pained grunt on every step, he made it to the ladder and began to climb. If it were not for the powered Titan Armour frame, she was certain that he could not possibly move, let alone climb. "What are you waiting for!? Command the troops!"

Snapped out of her thoughts by the colonel's orders, she nodded and sprinted out of the command centre and into the mechbay. All of the MEC troopers available were holding the front lines, engaging the mutons in vicious hand-to-hand combat. The heavier armour of the MEC troopers took the brunt of the punishment, though even the thick alien alloy plating had its limits. Several of the troopers had missing or crippled limbs, with one in particular still valiantly fighting in the centre of the burning mechbay despite both of her legs' actuators having been cut by stray bolts of plasma. The lone surviving autoturret in the room was laying down a withering hail of autocannon fire, its one remaining barrel glowing red-hot from the sheer volume of shells it was spitting out. Strike Four was holding the line behind them, laying down what suppressive fire they could on the oncoming tide of thin men and cyberdiscs, while Strike Three lobbed explosives from the gantry above them, shearing apart armour and limbs alike.

"Yang! Move to the front and start pushing them back!" Ruby called out, Crescent Rose barking twice and dropping two sectoids, "Blake, see if you can kill some of them from the sides,"

"You got it, sis!"

"Will do,"

A valiant roar came from above her as Papa Bear finally reached his position on the railing on top. A hail of green plasma ripped through a cyberdisc, causing it to detonate in a hail of deadly shrapnel. More smaller shots followed, courtesy of Eleanor. Those found their mark in the heads of mutons that were too brave for their own good, forcing the rest of them to hunker down behind what scarce cover remained in the devastated room.

"Strike Four! Throw some grenades at the forklift!" Ruby cried out, spotting a cluster of mutons crouching behind the vehicle. Two green grenades sailed through the air and erupted in flashes of emerald flame, igniting the vehicle's fuel and blasting it apart in a brilliant fireball. The mutons roared in confusion as they were slammed against the walls, right before dozens of lasers put them out of their misery.

Having spotted Ruby, a thin man lifted its rifle and fired off a volley of shots at the red reaper. Most simply struck the metal crates that she was hiding behind, though one went wide and struck the member of Strike Three beside her squarely on the chest. The man's Carapace Armour did little to absorb any damage; he went down, clutching the gaping wound in his chest.

"Medic!"

"We don't have any more medkits, Reaper!"

"We're all out!"

That was certainly not what she wanted to hear. She could still hear the man's ragged, laboured breathing; his hand reaching out to her, begging for her to save him; to do something, _anything_. But without any medic to assist, she was powerless to help.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, tearing herself away from the sight and focusing her rifle on the thin man that had shot him. A single shot later, and the alien lay face-down on the floor, though it still did not change the fact that she had lost one man under her command.

Something strange, however, had happened. The first thing that Ruby noticed was one of the other thin men had lifted its arm to its ear and begun to jabber away into a small wrist-mounted device. The next moment, several of the mutons that had been suicidally pushing into their lines began to retreat, running back towards the main gates while firing their rifles in the general direction of the XCOM operatives.

"They're...retreating?" Ruby muttered in confusion, a sentiment echoed by many of the other operatives.

Something about the retreat seemed off. It was not as though they were running away in panic. Rather, they were backing away in an orderly fashion; suppressive fire on the XCOM soldiers, while they slowly moved back, going from cover to cover.

And then another massive explosion rocked the base from behind them. And then another, this time from the front.

"Strike One, this is Central. Our long-range communications array has been knocked out by an explosion. We've lost contact with other bases, but by our last contact, the interceptors are still ten minutes out. Short-range scanners are picking up six more inbound alien transports, three minutes from landing,"

"What's that even mean?" Yang yelled out, still busy firing off as many blasts as she could from Ember Celica.

"The front gates need to be sealed, or the aliens are going to flood this base. We cannot call for any additional reinforcements from any conventional military armies! Strike Three, are your engineers still present? Attempt a repair on the damaged main gates' systems! We've got to get it up and running before the alien reinforcements get inside the base!"

"Too damn slow, Central. And they'll just burn right through it again," growled Papa Bear over the comms, "Shen, where do you have Ice Queen's gravity bombs?"

"There should be one in a sealed metal crate in the corner of the mechbay. Black and yellow stripes on top. What do you have planned for it?"

"We collapse the front tunnel. The other boys can dig us out later, but we'll live. The interceptors should be able to make short work of the alien ground forces and all aircraft in the atmosphere,"

"A risky proposal, but it is the best option we have at this stage," Vahlen chimed in with a sigh, "However, we do not have an available detonator present anywhere on the base. Priming it will require a high-energy impact or explosion. A grenade or a plasma rifle impact will function well enough as a detonator, though it will likely kill everyone in thirty metres of the bomb,"

Thirty metres. That was far longer than any sight line inside the base's ground floor, and well beyond the throwing range of any grenade. Which meant that one of them would have to sacrifice themselves willingly to do the deed. One by one, the XCOM operatives of Strike Three and Strike Four looked at each other and shook their heads, backing away from Ruby as though to avoid being picked by her. The young girl was completely crushed; she did not want to sign any of them to their deaths, but if the rest were to live, she had to sacrifice one of them.

"If none of you cowards will do it, then I will," spat Papa Bear, determination burning in his eyes, "Dominatrix. Help me up. Get me to the bomb. Reaper, clear a path to the front gates,"

"Papa Bear, no!" she protested, watching the man leap down from the balcony and onto the floor below.

"Look at me, cub. I can feel the chryssalid venom starting to get to me, and there's not enough medical supplies in Vahlen's cabinets for me to see another day," he spoke lowly, glaring at Ruby, "I will not die a useless, broken old man on a hospital bed. You will clear a path for me to the front gates. That is my final order to you, Sergeant Rose. Are we clear?"

"Y-yes, sir,"

"Then get to it," he muttered, lifting up his machinegun with one arm and spraying wildly at the retreating aliens. When the weapon beeped that it was empty, he tossed it aside and hobbled over to the black-and-yellow striped crate sitting in the corner of the mechbay. "Well? What are you waiting for?!"

Nodding hesitantly, Ruby shouted her order to the remaining XCOM operatives. "Strike Three, Strike Four, ready all remaining explosives! Blow those aliens up!"

A barrage of explosives ripped apart the remaining aliens in the tunnel leading to the front gates. Without any more of their allies to cover, the thin men in the back of their lines simply broke ranks and fled, dropping their weapons; sectoids and cyberdiscs followed suit, hot on their heels.

"Strike One, the front tunnel is clear. X-rays are in full retreat and are likely regrouping outside the base. Get the tunnel closed, now! We're running out of time!"

"No need to say it twice, Central. Strike Two, Strike Three; return to the barracks. Tiger, Reaper, Shadowcat, come with me. Move the bomb to the middle of the exit tunnel,"

Between the three of them, they dragged the heavy crate along to the exit, while Eleanor helped Papa Bear move with them. After what seemed like an eternity, they had moved the explosive warhead to the tunnel's mouth.

"Good," sighed Papa Bear as he sat down on the crate. He stared down at the ground, not saying anything for a moment, before he chuckled darkly. "So, it's come to this. I have to say, this was not the end that I was expecting, but it is a worthy end regardless. I have no regrets. Reaper, come here,"

Ruby approached the gruff man, not knowing what to expect. He reached under his armour and lifted out a silver tab on a chain. A dog tag – and what appeared to be a pouch underneath it. From the way it jingled, there were likely many metal objects inside.

"Keep this, and the others," he said, thrusting the bag and the tag into Ruby's hands. Taking a look inside, Ruby noticed that there were dozens of other tags inside. "Every single XCOM operative that has fallen, I had their tags added to that collection. If their bodies could not be recovered, I had a copy made. Do you know why, cub?"

"W-why?"

"Because it reminds me. It reminds me of who they are, who I am, and what I fight for. Who I fight for," he spoke, "They are the ones who have sacrificed much to keep their loved ones safe. They are the ones that I will remember. These serve to remind me of the mission that we are all charged with, and I hope that it will do the same for you. Now go, cubs. We're out of time, and I've still got one last thing to do. Eleanor, watch over them for me,"

The blonde nodded. "I will do so. It has been an 'onour, Armand,"

"Just...go,"

He took out a plasma pistol from its holster at his hip and ran a gauntleted finger along its slide, almost longingly. "We are the watchers in the shadows. We are the shield of humanity. We fight because we must, for the survival of all inhabitants of Earth. Some must fight, so that all may live. In vigilo confido,"

* * *

Operation Deathless Watch: After Action Report

Sgt. Ruby 'Reaper' Rose: Active  
Cpl. Weiss 'Ice Queen' Schnee: Lightly Wounded  
Cpl. Blake 'Shadowcat' Belladonna: Active  
Cpl. Yang 'Tiger' Xiao Long: Active  
Col. Armand 'Papa Bear' Magnusson: KIA  
Col. Eleanor 'Dominatrix' Delacroix: Severely Wounded  
Lt. Maria 'Temptress' de Cervantes: KIA

+11 other KIA

* * *

A/N

I found the Alien Base Assault mission to be a bit underwhelming. Surely, if the aliens' mission was to annihilate the XCOM project so that they may continue their nefarious deeds, they would either use more troops than what was shown in game to overwhelm the defenses by sheer weight of numbers - or they would simply nuke the entire base from orbit, considering that they knew where the base was located exactly. The end parts of XCOM 1 and XCOM 2 reveal the objectives of the aliens; that is, to find a physical form considered suitable for an Ethereal mind - physically and mentally superior. But this was achieved through two different methods, and XCOM 2 implies that the original XCOM project failed at this stage of the game. I'm still somewhat split on whether to take this along XCOM 2 lines and make the XCOM project a hit-and-run resistance when the alien overlords stage coups on every major nation on Earth, or whether to take this along the original XCOM 1 storyline where the aliens are merely testing humanity's suitability of becoming their 'successor' by throwing tests at XCOM operatives. Whatever the case, I will explore both options before deciding on which yields more entertainment value.

JohnnieBoy11: Honestly, I had the early chapters of this story written before I was even aware of the existence of DrAmishMD's XCOM story (I don't actually read all that often - prefer writing, as it allows me to crank out ideas in a form that can be shared). I read both of his ones and I'll say they're great XD But you can be assured that this isn't a rewrite.

A special shoutout to playwars5, who has helped me beta this chapter and pointed out several plot holes in the early drafts of the chapter!

Until next time!


	16. 16 - Phoenix from the Dust

Thirteen killed in defending the base. Dozens more injured.

The sheer damage caused by the alien assault on the XCOM base was staggering. Almost all of the static defenses in place had been destroyed. There had been fires blazing in the mechbay and parts of the armoury, which had only been barely brought under control after XCOM operatives had been called in to assist the severely depleted engineering crew. Most of the security bulkheads in place in the lower parts of the base had damaged hydraulics, necessitating the use of heavy equipment to break them down.

Equipment which they did not have on the base. Not until tomorrow, at least. The United States and Mexico had both scrambled military forces to assist XCOM after they had picked up the distress signal from the XCOM base. Several hundred regular army soldiers had died to clear the rest of the invading aliens after the transport ships had been shot down by XCOM interceptors. The military had declared a lockdown in effect in the area, which meant that nothing could get in or out until they had salvaged every last piece of equipment in the area and brought in some of their own excavators to clear the entry tunnel to the base.

Several hundred dead, and thousands injured. Ruby sat on a ruined couch in the barracks as she thought about just how quickly everything had descended into chaos. She would be lying if she said she didn't feel a little bit of despair cross her mind during the battle. After all, several high-ranking, highly skilled operatives had just died to save the rest of the base from being overrun.

"What am I?" she whispered to herself, picking out a dogtag from the pouch that Papa Bear had given her. "Who am I?"

Taking another dogtag from the pouch still gave her no answers to those questions. She knew that these were from every single dead soldier that had ever served XCOM. Papa Bear said that these were supposed to remind him of his mission. No, _their_ mission. He had said that they all had the same mission. But what mission was that?

She thought about the rest of the other XCOM operatives that she had met. Maria was a fun-loving, bubbly personality. Much like Yang, though a little on the perverted side. She genuinely cared for others in her care that were injured. It boggled her mind; somebody that was that kind and mischievous, joining a paramilitary group. Did she join to treat their wounds? Was that the mission that they all had? To take care of each other...?

Then her thoughts roamed to Eleanor. She was, to put it lightly, bloodthirsty. At least against those that were opposed to herself. She tended to remain alone after missions, and even during the day it was rare to run into her outside of the firing range. And on the battlefield, she would kill the aliens without compunction, wearing a sadistic smile that grew wider with every alien she killed. If any of her squadmates fell, she would continue shooting with little regard for their safety. Was that the mission that they all had? To kill the alien menace, at all costs?

Then came the MEC troopers, who seemed to all behave more or less in the same mechanical way. Cold. Impersonal. Unfeeling. They performed their duties to the letter; killing if they were ordered to kill, running if they were ordered to run, and standing their ground if they were ordered to do so. In a way, she was reminded of machines more than man, every time she saw one of them. Was that the mission that they all had? To obey orders from the higher ups, no matter the consequences?

And then the last of all was the most confusing. Her own team. Team RWBY – and if they woke up soon, Team JNPR. They were not of this planet. The aliens were not attacking Remnant, they were attacking Earth. And Earth was not their homeworld. It was simple enough for herself; she was a huntress, and her mission was to assist everyone in need, be it from Grimm or anything else. She didn't know how the others of her team felt about their mission as huntsmen and huntresses, though she really hoped that they truly felt the same way as she did.

Her head hurt from too much thinking. Too many things had happened that day, and none of it good. She barely registered the approach of Eleanor, who had half her face swathed in bloodstained bandages.

"Mon amie, if you are not involved in any tasks, zen perhaps you should 'elp clean up the mess left behind by ze aliens," Eleanor spoke, putting a hand on her shoulder. Reluctantly, Ruby put all the tags back into the pouch and stood up.

"Sorry," she apologised, "I...was thinking about some things,"

"As are we all. Our losses were severe," Eleanor replied dryly, "However, zere will be time to grieve in the future. For now, the survival of zose still alive must take priority. Your squadmates are already assisting with the cleanup. As zeir leader, it falls to you to set an example, and not remain idle,"

Ruby nodded, understanding where she was coming from. Until allied forces could clear the collapsed tunnel, they were stuck inside the base. Stuck with hundreds of decaying alien bodies and bits of decomposing viscera. Her stomach turned at the thought. "Where do I start?" she choked out, trying to push the unpleasant images out of her mind.

"Ze rest of your squad have been assigned the cleanup of Dr. Vahlen's laboratory and Dr. Shen's workshops. I am informed that zere 'as been a spill of some Elerium; watch where you step,"

* * *

Weiss grunted with exertion as she dragged a leaking container of Elerium emulsion from Dr. Vahlen's laboratory. Though her ribs were still sore, Dr. Vahlen had merely given her a shot of local anaesthetics, a few painkiller pills and a probably more-than-recommended dose of steroids. She was still able to walk about and move with minimal risk of additional damage; something that many of the other personnel could not boast.

And given how the laboratory also doubled as an infirmary in emergencies, she had no option but to assist. The pained groans of a couple of engineers who had been hit by shrapnel caused her to grimace. Every minute that they could not get the laboratory cleared was another minute that a person could not be treated, and every minute was critical.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" she cried out, as a squaddie that she had never met before stumbled into her while carrying a crate of medical supplies.

Foolishly, the squaddie did not think about sealing the crate before carrying it. Out spilled several needles – and a single glass bottle of peroxide disinfectant, which fell and smashed against the Elerium container that she was carrying.

One moment, she was stumbling on her feet, and the next, she found herself hurtling through the air as a shockwave ripped through the room. She slammed against the opposite wall in the laboratory with a loud crack; a searing pain shot through her spine and ribs as she felt something – or maybe more than a few things – break.

The Elerium emulsion was burning, releasing clouds of acrid yellow smoke into the room. Weiss could faintly register Dr. Vahlen's voice, ordering everyone that could still move to evacuate those that were injured until the ventilation could deal with the gas cloud. The cloud was spreading quickly, filling her nostrils with a sharp scent reminiscent of coppery blood. A scent that was growing sharper and sharper with every passing moment.

"I need to get out of here," she thought to herself. If Dr. Vahlen was ordering everyone to evacuate, it was likely that the gas cloud was toxic. Gathering her willpower, Weiss conjured a glyph to help herself up.

Only to be very nearly launched into the ceiling as the glyph appeared underneath her, much larger and brighter than it normally was. She looked at her hands in dumbfounded shock. That was _not_ supposed to happen. Her glyphs were not normally that powerful.

And then she realised that her wounds were rapidly healing. The stabbing pain that was in her spine and ribs were quickly fading to a dull throb, uncomfortable but no longer agonising; a quick feel with a hand showed that the numerous stitches in her back were rapidly vanishing, melting away into her skin without a trace. Not even a scar. Weiss frowned as she thought about how exactly this could have happened. Aura didn't work properly on Earth; they had already found that out quite early on. But the sort of regeneration that she was experiencing now seemed only possible _with_ Aura – and one that was ridiculously powerful, at that. Unless, of course, a greatly advanced form of adaptive bone marrow had been discovered, and Dr. Vahlen somehow implanted her with it without asking for her permission.

Even that didn't explain why her Semblance was exponentially more powerful. This was something strange that she needed to discuss with Dr. Vahlen. Sooner rather than later.

A strange thought came to the front of her mind as a purple haze shrouded her rational thoughts. _But why sooner,_ she asked herself. If they needed this mess cleaned up now, she could help. After all, her glyphs could push or absorb things if she wished them to. Clenching her fist, she conjured another glyph in the middle of the room, which spanned almost the entire width of the laboratory.

 _Why only glyphs? Surely, I could do better than that!_

Her hand glowed a brilliant purple as she willed the glyph to start pulling the cloud of gas into itself, using a whirlpool of eldritch energies.

"Reality bends to my will. As it does for every Schnee," the heiress muttered darkly, twisting the giant snowflake and energy storm around the now-compact ball of gas, forcing it back into its original container. Another application of glyph force, and the rupture was roughly sealed by warping the torn seams of the container back together, as though it were as simple as stitching together fabric with needle and thread.

Weiss was by now vaguely aware of something wet and warm dripping down from her nostrils. But why would she care about minor details like that? She had found great power. Her Aura was back. Her body was fixing itself, at a rate that would make everyone else jealous. She would become the greatest huntress of all time! A twisted grin crept onto her face as she observed the sheer density of her Aura. It was likely thick enough to absorb even a Goliath's blows without taking too much damage!

And yet, it was rapidly receding, even as she marvelled at her own power. "Corporal Schnee. Weiss! Stand down!" she faintly heard someone say from behind her. Several clicks of what was unmistakably firearms being racked could also be heard, causing her to spin around to see who – or what – thought that she was a threat. They would pay for their impudence with their blood.

There were at least a dozen XCOM operatives, wielding an assortment of weapons from assault rifles to what looked like a rocket launcher. Every single one of them had their weapons trained on her. Well, all except Ruby, who looked almost...fearful...even as she clutched Crescent Rose in as relaxed a manner as she possibly could.

A bit of dismay crossed Weiss' mind when she saw Ruby look at her in that way.

 _Why would she do this? Why? I haven't done anything...wrong...? Have I...?_

"Weiss," Ruby spoke softly, taking a step forward, "What happened...? Why's your nose bleeding? Are you hurt? Please don't be hurt!"

 _I'm not hurt. I almost hurt her. I almost hurt them all. Dust, I was ready to rip into them._

"Ruby, I'm fine. I think," Weiss said, wondering what exactly had come over her. She recalled being pushed by a careless squaddie, causing her to drop an already-damaged canister of Elerium; he dropped something, causing the canister to detonate and release clouds of choking gas; and then the next moment, she felt an overwhelming sense of _pure power_ rush through her veins. She was certain that her Aura had returned before, though a quick prod at her hand showed her that was no longer the case. A wave of nausea shot through her, and she fell to her knees, heaving out what little she had eaten that morning.

"Corporal Schnee. What in God's name was _that_?" Dr. Vahlen called out from behind the operatives. The usually unflappable woman was visibly distressed, as though she was terrified. Other operatives around her seemed to share her sentiments, gripping their weapons even more tightly as Ruby approached Weiss apprehensively.

"Looks like something the Sectoids did. You know, the purple lightshow and all?" one of the other corporals said shakily, his hands trembling around his assault rifle, "You sure we should be letting her close to us? I mean, we just got screwed over by some of our boys under the control of the x-ray scum. What's to say that she's not under their control?"

"Corporal Ramirez, you will stand down!" barked Dr. Vahlen. The gruff man seemed shaken enough to acquiesce to the scientist's demand. After all, not a single XCOM operative wanted cadaver cleanup duty after she was done with an autopsy. "Thank you! Sergeant Rose, if you could collect your partner and bring her to the spare laboratory on the second floor, I would much appreciate it,"

Ruby nodded, stooping down to check on Weiss. "Come on, Weissy! We'll make sure you get better," she whispered reassuringly into the heiress' ear, patting her gingerly on her back. Weiss slowly raised her head, wheezing as she fought back the urge to retch again; but her expression quickly shifted to confusion when she saw Ruby take a few steps back, her expression that of utmost horror.

"Is something wrong with how I look?" queried Weiss, perplexed. Ruby shook her head, putting her hand into her pockets and pulling out a scroll. She took a quick photo of Weiss, and then shakily held it out so that her white-haired partner could see the image.

To say that Weiss was shocked would have been the greatest understatement of the year. "My eyes..." she gasped hoarsely.

She was staring at a picture of herself.

With luminous violet eyes.

* * *

A/N:

Shortish chapter this time around. I'm still gathering plot points before launching into the second half of this story, so bear with me for a while. Which might be quite a long while, as this story is secondary priority at the moment, but it is being worked on.


	17. 17 - The Gift

Weiss gritted her teeth irritably as she sat down at the desk in her cell to sit down and devour her breakfast. Ever since the incident with the Elerium canister, she had been under what was essentially quarantine. Dr. Vahlen had run tests on her in a hastily-constructed 'Psi Lab'; she had taken her off the active personnel roster, removed her from the personnel barracks, and even placed her in isolation for a week. She had only been allowed briefly into the infirmary to be checked for the status of her previous injuries from the alien base raid, and then promptly escorted back to her cell in the Psi Lab.

Whatever had happened to her had seemingly restored her Aura, if only for a brief moment. Though restored may have been too mild a word to describe it. Her spinal injuries – and any other internal injuries that Ruby had inflicted during the alien base assault – had been completely, and totally healed. Leaving Dr. Vahlen and all other medical professionals on base utterly stumped as to how it had happened. Even she couldn't explain it herself; Aura was only meant to shield blows from ever inflicting physical damage in the first place, or repairing minor, superficial wounds such as cuts and scrapes. Not grievous injuries that were life-threatening or crippling.

Regardless, she found herself barely able to restrain her fury at the knowledge that Ruby and the others would be sent on missions without her for at least another week. It was bad enough that the Psi Lab cell was constructed with some sort of semi-silvered glazing on one side, allowing others to see into her cell, but she herself could not look out; but it was another that she was prevented from being at the side of the one person she had promised to protect.

Add that to the fact that she thought she felt an almost tangible cloud of apprehension hanging around every person that wandered too close to her cell, and her mood gradually worsened over the duration of her stay. Had she not sacrificed enough to further their aims, that she would be viewed with open suspicion and fear by other personnel? What did she do to even warrant this treatment?

The only contact that she had with other people was with Dr. Vahlen at certain hours of the day. Sometimes, it would be after she had been deprived of all sensory stimulation; the lights were completely darkened, and the entire room flooded with white noise. Occasionally, she would lose control and lash out at a nearby object. After an hour or two of the treatment, the noise would subside and the lights reactivated, and Dr. Vahlen would walk in to converse with her as though nothing had happened. Sometimes it was longer, sometimes it was shorter.

Of course, she could sense the woman's attempts to curb her fear, though her two guards did not seem to have such considerations. Nor did she miss the scanners installed in the ceiling; though what they were measuring, she would never know.

It had been a week since the start of her isolations, and the Schnee was nearly at the end of her patience. She finished up her breakfast and stood up, walking to the mirror near the toilet and sink at the back of the cell. She took a look in the mirror; ever since that accident, her eyes had shifted from their usual ice-blue colour to a vivid violet, often glowing brightly in the dark. It was a change that still unsettled her; perhaps even more than her abilities to warp reality and manipulate minds with her own mind.

At least those abilities didn't stare back at you in the mirror every day.

She felt an unusual presence approaching her cell. One that was simultaneously joyful and exhausted beyond anything else she had felt before. Two, when she considered the regretful emotions were seeping through the one following behind. Turning to face the door of her cell, she could scarcely be prepared for the red-and-black whirlwind that would tackle her about the waist.

"Oh Dust, Weissy! You're alright!" Ruby cried out, pelting the heiress' face with numerous sloppy kisses. Ordinarily, Weiss would protest; but after a week of isolation from her teammates, she couldn't find it in herself to complain about the little reaper's affectionate outburst. Dust, even Yang could have hugged her and she wouldn't have complained; a week in near total isolation was hell. "We've been so worried about you!"

Somehow, she couldn't believe that Yang or Blake would share the same level of concern as Ruby. But for now, she still greatly appreciated that at least one person still missed her. Her attention then shifted to Dr. Vahlen, who she viewed with unrestrained suspicion. It did not slip past her attention that there was a folder in her hands. Was she trying to run another test, perhaps?

"I...suppose I owe you an apology for locking you up, Corporal Schnee," Vahlen admitted slowly. If it weren't for the remorse she could sense in the doctor's mind, she might have refused the apology outright. That, and it helped to ease her mind that Ruby was gently squeezing her hand even as she pried herself away from her girlfriend. "Or I should say, Adept Schnee?"

That made her raise an eyebrow. "Adept?" Weiss asked. Vahlen only nodded in response.

"Yes, Adept. Though I disagree somewhat with the title, there are others in the base that believe your powers to be...almost magical in nature. And to an extent, even I am inclined to believe that, as it seems completely and utterly impossible that the mind should be able to directly influence reality. Tell me, Adept Schnee; after the periods of sensory deprivation, did you feel...different? More powerful, perhaps?"

"Unless you count feeling utterly furious a sense of power, I highly doubt it," Weiss grumbled, remembering the periods of complete darkness with great distaste.

Vahlen shifted uncomfortably where she stood. "Well then. Have a seat, both of you," She flipped open the folder, producing numerous photographs which she arranged into sets. Judging by what Weiss had seen before entering the psi labs, these had been taken just outside her cells. The plain white tables and workbenches looked familiar enough.

On the tables were target dummies, clad in carapace armour. Each set of photographs, she noted, had the exact same setup; three dummies, fully armoured, and even holding weapons. An experimental setup, for certain.

"These photographs were taken at the start of each sensory deprivation session," Dr. Vahlen spoke quietly. Taking the leftmost set, she flipped through the photographs. The armour and dummy looked fine for the first twenty photographs. Then on the next one, her jaw dropped.

The dummy had burst into purple flames. Flames that were hot enough to reduce the carapace armour and the dummy to ashes in moments, given the next few photographs. The last photograph in the set showed that there was nearly nothing left of both the table and the dummy.

"I did that?"

"As far as I have been able to deduce, yes. We utilised the same damping technology in this lab as is normally used for interrogations of sectoids and the like, to remove the possibility that external influences were causing that,"

The next set of photographs showed another set of armour, this time hurled into the opposite wall with such force that it shattered both the dummy and armour. Another showed the armour compressed into a singularity, before being spat out as a tiny, crumpled thing not unlike a crushed soft drink can. But the most disturbing was the last set. What looked like a gigantic purple sphere of energy manifested itself in front of the armour, before firing a broad beam of energy that vaporised the armour – and the wall behind it, before continuing on through the next two rooms.

"It is a good thing that we had informed everyone that the floor is to be vacated during these tests. I dread to think what would have happened if someone were caught in that discharge of energy," Vahlen said, shuddering. "In any event, based on the sensor scans of your brain activity during these periods, these...psychic abilities of yours manifest most strongly during periods of intense emotion. Anger, in particular, seems to result in a very destructive beam that outstrips a MEC's particle cannon by an order of magnitude,"

"I don't understand. Why... _how_ is this even possible?" Weiss murmured, looking at her hands, "A Schnee should only be able to conjure things that we have defeated, or project barriers and solid platforms with our Semblance. This...this makes no sense!"

"My hypothesis is that trace amounts of Elerium caused your latent psionic abilities to awaken. And it also appears that as a side effect, the phenomenon that you and your squadmates refer to as 'Aura' had also reactivated. All of the most destructive manifestations of this psychic ability of yours had come about while under the influence of trace amounts of Elerium,"

"Elerium? But I didn't see the gas in the room,"

"Trace amounts, Miss Schnee. The amount that you had been exposed to during that accident should have killed you by incinerating your nervous system almost instantaneously. Instead, it had reactivated your Aura; and by doing that, I believe that your body had repaired itself at a rate faster than Elerium toxicity could destroy it,"

Reactivating their Auras, simply by exposure to Elerium! How could it possibly be that simple, she thought to herself. "So, if that's the case-"

"No. I know what you are about to suggest, Adept Schnee, and I forbid it. As XCOM's medical officer, I have the final say in whether or not certain...medications...constitute too much of a health risk to even consider using. While your Aura did protect you to a certain level, and the Elerium greatly increased your regenerative rate, Elerium is still incredibly toxic by all routes of exposure. Those without Aura would experience multiple organ failure within a minute, if their nervous systems did not melt down first. You showed greatly increased aggression and disregard for caution; and if Lieutenant Rose hadn't been present to calm you down, you would have likely turned on your fellow operatives in blind rage. The risk to other operatives is too great, even if they were capable of using it,"

"But if it's so toxic, you gassed me in that lab!" Weiss argued back, backed up by an indignant Ruby.

"A highly controlled, minute dose, Miss Schnee. Less than a millionth of what you were initially exposed to. At worst, it would give other operatives a mild headache or a sore throat after a day or two of contact. Given the dosage of your initial exposure, we deduced that if you were capable of being nearly submerged in high concentrations of gaseous Elerium with minimal negative reactions, we might be able to find a dosage that may help in manifesting these...psionics,"

"Right. And I hope that whatever you have found is worth locking me up for a week for no good reason,"

The silence in the room was so thick that all of them could only hear the faint hum of the ventilation fans. Vahlen was visibly fuming, though what Weiss did not expect was for her to glare at Ruby. The doctor even tipped her head to one side while crossing her arms, as though she were challenging Ruby to say something. The little reaper shrank away a little from Weiss, guilt written all over her face.

A look of hurt flashed across Weiss' face. No, she couldn't have. Vahlen was the only one that was cruel enough to subject someone to unusual punishments just to sate her curiosity.

"Lieutenant Rose, if you will?"

Ruby took a deep breath and cringed. "I'm...uh...I'm sorry, Weiss. Locking you up in here wasn't Dr. Vahlen's idea. It was...mine,"

Hurt changed to shock; shock to confusion, and then confusion to fury. Weiss rounded on Ruby, shrieking furiously. "You _dolt_! You...devious, cruel _dolt_! How- no, _why_ exactly did you do this? To put _me_ into isolation!? Turning myself into a guinea pig for a...for an experiment? Why!?"

"Adept Schnee! Calm yourself," barked Vahlen, separating the two. Weiss was seething, and Ruby appeared deeply regretful of what she had done. "Focus. The two of you were closer than most. You know that for all the childish antics that Lieutenant Rose may engage in during her spare time, she would not suggest something like isolation for frivolous reasons. Especially not to someone like yourself,"

Her breathing was still ragged, and she would have loved nothing more than to throttle Ruby at that point for her betrayal. But a rational part of her screamed at her to listen to Dr. Vahlen; Ruby would not have done this to her, not without a damned good reason. And then there was that quiet presence in the back of her mind, the one that had always been there since she manifested these strange 'psionic' powers of hers. It was also telling her to remain calm. And so she forced herself to take a deep breath, closing her eyes and counting to ten.

"I didn't have a choice, Weiss. The others...they were scared. They thought you were under alien control! Sure, they might be nice to you when they meet you in the barracks common room. But when you hear about what they talk about...they...they wanted to slip a grenade in your- in our room- when we slept. Something about removing a potential alien threat. It was the only way I thought I could protect you,"

"So why didn't we just do something about _them_ instead of forcing this on _us_?" demanded Weiss.

"Weiss...you know as well as we all do that XCOM doesn't have all that many troops left. We lost most of our officers in that attack. We even lost a lot of the recruits. If we dismissed the ones that were plotting against you, we'd have nearly nobody left,"

"If I recall correctly, that would bring us down to ten operatives with any combat experience and two raw recruits," Vahlen added quietly.

Ruby nodded in confirmation. "Yeah. With that few people, the aliens would win. We just can't fight back at so many places with only ten people. We'd get hardly any sleep at all!"

"If you would even get any sleep,"

"And what would happen if any of us got injured? There wouldn't be anyone else to cover for us,"

Weiss sighed and cradled her face with her hands. That was not what she wanted to hear, not at all. But her team leader had a valid point. Dissent in the ranks wasn't an option at this point. They had lost far too many soldiers as it was, and losing more was certain to doom the entire force to failure. "Fine! If locking me up for the time being will keep them happy, then do it. Just tell me that you've at least gotten something out of it,"

"We do not have to keep you locked up any more, Adept Schnee. The data we've acquired from observing your interactions with Elerium was sufficient. The power you have, with or without Elerium exposure, grows more powerful with increasing emotions, particularly those of a destructive nature. Locking you up in isolation would do more harm than good,"

She nodded to that, seeing as the photographs only showed what happened as she was exposed to longer periods of sensory deprivation. If she completely lost control and lashed out at the entire base...Dust, she did not want to think about what would have happened.

"Lieutenant Rose has been up for the last thirty-six hours on three consecutive missions. The aliens are attacking in force, and we're desperately short on able leaders. Colonel Delacroix is hardly suitable for leadership, as her genetic modifications have proven to be a detriment to leading a squad. She is very likely to pursue an enemy blindly, without regard for the safety of her unaugmented peers. Which leaves you and Lieutenant Rose as the only two capable leaders available to us at this point in time,"

Ruby's hand wrapped around her own. It killed Weiss internally to see the bags under Ruby's bloodshot eyes. Even on usual hunts in Remnant, you could get a proper night's sleep with some night watches. "Alright. So what do you propose?"

"We know that you're not under control of the aliens, Weissy," Ruby said, "You've always been the strongest-willed of all of us. But I think showing the other guys that you're on their side will make them also think the same way. And what's better at doing that than raiding the biggest supply ship that we've ever found?"

Weiss looked questioningly at Dr. Vahlen, who nodded. "Yes, that would be an accurate statement. If our readings are correct, there is also a very large amount of Elerium present on the ship. More than enough to reconstruct every piece of equipment that we have lost, and then quite a significant amount to spare. It would give us room to breathe, given our terrible losses over the past two weeks,"

Between being locked up in darkness and being sent to what was almost a suicide mission, Weiss was almost tempted to choose the former. However, the thought of allowing her partner to go on this mission alone – on so little sleep, no less – did not sit well with her. Especially since said girl was now radiating so much positivity that it was blinding to her mind's eye.

Dust, Ruby knew how to brighten even the darkest days at times.

"Alright. It seems like...a fair idea,"

* * *

A/N

So, I've decided on how to go about this story, and thus it may continue! :D

GryffenOfSannGal: Thanks for the long review. It's very much appreciated! Yep, will definitely need to flesh out more on the state of the world - but that will be coming as the armageddon timer ticks down. And rookies? What rookies? *points to memorial wall, which spans 3 whole walls* Oh, those rookies. Right.

Quintain: Not quite psionics vs aura. There will be explanations in later chapters about the relationship between Aura, psionics, Dust and Elerium.


	18. 18 - Operation Restoring Hope

"Holy hell. Look at the size of that thing,"

Weiss could only nod mutely in agreement with the rookie's assessment of their target. The ship was, to say the least, utterly enormous. It was easily the size of the entire XCOM base, and then some. She wouldn't say it to the rest of the freshly-recruited squadmates accompanying her, but even she was having second thoughts about taking this mission. Who knew just how many aliens were aboard that ship? But a ship that size would also represent a colossal amount of resources that XCOM could salvage if they won over their enemies – or a colossal amount of materiel that the aliens could use against them, if they lost.

The mission was simple. Do or die. That also included all the XCOM personnel, both in her current squad and in the base. And she had no intention of dying today, nor did she intend to let any more of her colleagues perish.

What she wouldn't give to have Ruby providing her with covering fire on this mission. As they drew closer, it became obvious that there were wide fields of fire on the ship's open deck. Even if the aliens had taken cover behind the various crates and cylinders that were scattered on the deck, they wouldn't have been able to hide from Ruby. Very few things could, when she was in her element. But the still untested sniper on her current squad was another matter entirely. He was green – both in experience, and in appearance.

"Specialist Alvarez," she spoke, reading his nametag. "Breathe. You wouldn't be able to hit anything if you're that tense. Smith, make sure that machine gun isn't going to jam. I need you to provide suppression fire for the squad,"

The young man gulped and nodded nervously, while his gunner teammate snorted.

"Says the alien-touched girl," the machinegun-wielding man spat, "What's to say that you're not out to kill us?"

Her patience was wearing very, very thin. Dangerously so.

"I could order you to stand out the front as bait to reveal all the aliens, Specialist Smith," Weiss replied dryly, "But I won't, because the latrines are in dire need of cleaning. Are you volunteering?"

"Bitch! I'll make sure that-"

Something snapped in her. Who was this idiot that thought he was worthy to question her? She unlatched Wisteria from its holster on her hip and spun the cylinder. There was one round inside; where it was, she didn't know. In a flash, she had the pistol's bayonet at the loud-mouthed gunner's throat.

"Tell me, Specialist Smith," she growled, cocking back the hammer on the revolver, "Do you feel lucky?"

"What-"

"Answer the question. Do you feel lucky?" she snarled. She pressed down on the trigger, coming up with an empty click – and a frightened yelp from the shocked gunner, "I suppose you are, aren't you? I won't be the one sending you back in a bodybag today. I'll tell you this, you dolt; and the rest of you had better listen, and listen well. We're all in this together. You. Me. All of us are on the same team, and you had all better remember that. I can't say that I will be able to guarantee that all of us will walk away unharmed, but by Dust, I will definitely try. You, Smith. Do you have any family?"

"What-"

"Answer the question!"

"A brother and three sisters, back in a farm in Lincolnshire,"

"Specialist Alvarez?"

"A girl back in Santiago,"

"Lance Corporal Li?"

"M-my boyfriend, back in Hong Kong,"

"Then you know what you're fighting for. You fight to make sure they're safe. That they live to see a world without aliens," Weiss spoke, standing up from the Skyranger's bench and pacing about in front of her squadmates, "I understand that. Now, I know that some of you don't trust me. That's fine. I'm not asking you to fight for me, if you can't stomach that. I'm asking you to fight for the people you care for instead,"

"What do you know about fighting for someone else, huh?"

"More than you think, Specialist Smith. At the end of the day, you and I – and all of you – may part ways after this mission, and we might not see each other again. But just know that when we all have the same goals, it doesn't help any of us to be at each other's throats. So for this mission, whatever grievances you have with me – or each other – stow it. Fight it out in the sparring ring after the mission if you have to, but not while we have something more important to do. Are we clear?"

The squadmates looked at each other and gave reluctant nods.

"Good. Then I'll try my best to make sure that we all come back safely," she sighed, lowering her revolver and holstering it.

"Strike Seven, we are arriving at the AO. Be advised that satellite scans indicate an extremely high level of enemy presence as well as the presence of significant amounts of enemy supplies. Exercise extreme caution, and avoid destroying the supplies where possible," Big Sky hollered to the troop compartment, shutting them all up. "Central reminds you that Adept Schnee is your commanding officer, and is a Lieutenant. Refusing orders is insubordination, and will not be tolerated,"

Amid a chorus of grumbles, they all checked that they had their weapons and a sufficient supply of ammunition. Weiss checked her pockets for the presence of a diluted Elerium syrette and grimaced when she found it. Dr. Vahlen had informed her that in an emergency, that injection may reactivate her Aura temporarily and greatly increase the potency of both her Semblance and her psionics. What the drawback was, she didn't want to know, and hoped that she never had to use it. If something had given Dr. Vahlen reservations while creating it, it was likely very, very bad for the user.

On touching down in the woods just outside of the landed cargo ship, Weiss took in a sharp breath as she saw just how many aliens were guarding the vessel. Outside, she could count at least a dozen Sectoids and half as many Thin Men, accompanied by a pair of red-armoured Mutons.

"No fucking way," cursed Smith, "Central wants us to attack that? That's suicide!"

"If you have nothing worthwhile to say, I would say that you need to shut up," Weiss said sharply, "We have the high ground overlooking them, and we are still hidden. They do not know where we are. I say that we will be able to kill them all. Specialist Connor, I asked Central to provide you with a special rocket warhead. Did you collect it from the armoury?"

"Yes ma'am. What's special about this one?"

"It's a Fire Dust infused Elerium rocket. Put it simply, that rocket can and will burn through even alien battleship plating. Several layers thick, in fact,"

The man's eyes widened and he suddenly handled the rocket tube much more gingerly than before.

"Now, for the plan," Weiss muttered, scanning the battlefield.

The cliff that they had landed on formed a wide crescent around the bow of the cargo ship. The alien ship's engine wash had burned away all the trees around its base, leaving only a charred expanse with rocks too small to provide any meaningful cover. The ground itself was rather flat and featureless, which probably explained why the aliens even landed there.

"I will lure them to the base of the cliff. Connor, prepare that rocket. When they cluster up, I want you to fire and catch as many of them as you can,"

"Got it, ma'am. Standing by,"

"Smith, move to the far side of the cliff at our ten o'clock. Remain hidden. Li, go with him and make sure that no aliens catch him by surprise. When I give the signal, open fire on the aliens,"

"Understood,"

"Good. Now," Weiss murmured, unsheathing Myrtenaster and stabbing its blade into the ground. A glowing glyph materialised on the ground in front of her, from which a single armoured arm sprouted forth. She grimaced a little, knowing that she had intended for a full knight to appear, but an arm had to do.

The arm picked up a nearby stone and hurled it at the nearest sectoid, cracking the creature's skull on impact. It fell to the ground, motionless; but its nearby allies had seen the stone flying, and were looking straight at the arm. Grinning, Weiss willed the arm to pick up another rock and hurl it at another set of enemies, this time braining a Thin Man.

"Excellent. They're falling for the bait," she chuckled darkly, watching in amusement as the aliens rushed forward with their guns blazing. Not that the arm could even be damaged, as it simply dematerialised wherever a bolt of plasma would pass through it. Soon, the aliens had all congregated about the arm, completely befuddled by the strangely glowing arm without a body in front of them – and the fact that they had expended most of their ammunition and it was still there. "Connor, fire the rocket,"

"Fire in the hole!"

The rocket tore through the air and slammed into the charred dirt exactly where the arm was, erupting into a blinding white fireball. They didn't even get a chance to scream; their bodies were vaporised in a flash. That took care of the external guards.

"Multiple targets neutralised. Excellent shot, Connor,"

"Thank you, ma'am,"

"Everyone, move up and take up defensive positions around the cargo ship's ramp. Li, I need you to move up onto the ship and wait by the primary cargo bay's side; Alvarez, I need you to stay up on top of this cliff and provide overwatch. Move out!"

Now encouraged by the easy kills on all of the external alien guards, the squad strode confidently to their next position. Smith had his machinegun propped on an alien console, pointed straight at the glowing, shielded doorway in front of them. Li was pressed up against the side of that doorway, her gauss pistol held ready.

"I think...I think I hear something," Li muttered, gulping, "Sounds like there's a lot of footsteps on the other side of this door,"

"Anything more?" Weiss asked.

"No. Just...a lot of footsteps. On metal,"

Weiss sighed. If Blake were the scout, surely she wouldn't have any problems identifying the targets on the other side. But she had to know about what was on the other side, and the only way she knew how was-

Wait. She could see something. It was fuzzy and indistinct; a misty blob in her vision. Lots of misty blobs that looked to be past that door. Some were short, and some were tall; others were large and nebulous. Focusing on one of the small ones gave her a sharp stab of pain in her head, but she could now clearly see that it was a Sectoid's silhouette.

If the small ones were Sectoids, then the tall ones might be Thin Men; and by that logic, the large ones would be Mutons. She grimaced at the sheer numbers on the other side of that door. She had only requisitioned two Fire Dust rockets, and she had already used one. She could bait them to clump up like the others outside the ship, but that risked destroying valuable salvage – or worse, detonating other explosives that might be in storage.

She needed them dead, without resorting to explosives. But how? She only had a squad of six, while the aliens were at least two dozen strong on the other side.

"Ma'am?" Li said tentatively, "What are your orders?"

"Divide and conquer," she murmured, recalling a lecture by Port on attacking numerically overwhelming Grimm. Distracting half of them with one of the four huntsmen or huntresses in a team would allow the remaining three to more easily dispose of the others, and it was no different with aliens. She could cause a distraction somewhere else, pulling them away – but that was very, very risky without Aura or Semblances.

But what if she wasn't trying to cause a distraction? What if she could cause them to fight one another? She looked at her hand and blinked slowly, grinning maliciously as she thought about the Mutons. Those dim-witted brutes were tough, but their minds were truly lacking. Their minds begged to be dominated; and at this point, a ball of purple light gleamed in her now-clenched fist. "That's it. Divide and conquer!" she exclaimed, causing the rest of the team to look at her as though she had grown a second head. "Li, bring down the energy barrier. Remain hidden, but take a look at what happens inside. I will try something...new,"

"If you say so, ma'am. Bringing down the energy barrier,"

Weiss focused intently on one of the nebulous mists in the distance. There was no stabbing pain as it drew closer, forming into the hulking shape of a Muton. The creature had a large, heavy plasma machinegun of sorts in its chunky hands.

Perfect.

"Your mind is weak," she laughed darkly, focusing more intently on the shape. Instinctively, she held out her left hand; streams of purple eldritch energy streaked out of it, seemingly vanishing into the floor of the cargo ramp. A confused groan came from inside the cargo bay as her mind latched on to the Muton's.

She was immediately assaulted by the strangest sensations that she had ever felt. It was as though she were in two places at once; her vision split and overlaid with that of the Muton's; she thought of lifting her hand, and saw the creature's meaty fist come up to her split sight without any hesitation.

 _Kill your fellows._

With an almighty roar, the possessed Muton delivered a crushing haymaker against a sectoid that was crouching in front of it. The little alien never stood a chance; it was crushed into the floor, where it lay in a twitching, mangled heap. A Thin Man, turning around to check on what that noise was all about, was met by a powerful fist to its jaw. A sickening crunch later, the alien was sent hurtling through the air, landing on the cargo bay ramp and exploding into a toxic green mist.

"Holy shit. They're fighting each other? What...?"

The Muton then hefted its machinegun, letting loose a barrage of plasma bolts straight into the back of another pair of Thin Men. By this point, the other aliens had awoken from their stunned stupor, and were returning fire with deadly accuracy. Too bad for this particular Muton that Weiss had no intention of ever forcing it into cover. She ordered it to pull a grenade out and charge to a Sectopod that was emerging around a corner. Despite all the injuries it had sustained so far, it managed to prime the grenade and shove it through the Sectopod's central eye before it collapsed.

A warm and wet fluid trickled down Weiss' nose, and she had a pounding migraine when the shared sensations abruptly ended with the searing heat of a point-blank plasma blast. A second blast later let her know that the Sectopod's reactor core had exploded; and if the shrill cries of panic from the cargo bay were any indication, the aliens were well and truly disoriented.

"Lieutenant! You...you're bleeding from your nose? What happened? What was that?" asked the squad's medic, holding up a medkit spray.

She waved him off and straightened up. "I just created a distraction for you," she panted. Dust, she had never felt so tired before. "All of you, move up! Fire at will!"

The battle in the cargo bay was an indistinct blur of chaos to her. There was a fire blazing near the ruined wreck of the Sectopod, around which lay several charred corpses. Three remaining Sectoids quickly fell to barrages of gauss rounds, never able to find any cover before they fell. A Muton had raised its rifle to shoot at Li, before the back of its head was blown out by its fellow Muton's plasma shotgun. The mind-controlled Muton proceeded to rampage among the other aliens, causing them to shoot blindly in panic. Something which Weiss took full advantage of; for when she injected further images of horror into every alien she could reach in her mind's eye, they screeched and fired indiscriminately at both friend and foe. Before long, only the mind-controlled Muton remained, standing still with glassy eyes staring into space. Weiss glared at that Muton; it immediately placed its shotgun against the floor and knelt down with its chin on the barrel. A loud blast rang out, and the Muton fell forwards, missing most of its head.

And if Weiss was to be honest, her head felt much the same way.

"Central, this is Strike Seven," Weiss murmured, wiping her bloody nose with her sleeve. "Requesting sensor sweep. I think we killed them all,"

After a few moments, the radio crackled back to life. "Affirmative, Seven-Actual. Sensor sweep is underway to check for any hostile presence. Be advised that Big Sky is patrolling the area, and states that there appear to be no more hostiles on either the cargo deck or around the ship,"

"No more hostiles on the cargo deck? We...won?" Specialist Smith chuckled, grinning to the others in the squad, "Holy hell. That was what, thirty aliens? Forty aliens? And we killed them all with just six of us?"

"The mission isn't over yet, Smith!" barked Weiss, "Keep watching for aliens. We killed all of them that are on this cargo deck, but we still haven't been cleared by Central yet,"

"Bitch," he muttered sullenly, "Way to spoil this win,"

"If I really wanted to spoil it, I could have you cleaning the latrines for the rest of your career, Specialist," Weiss grumbled, clutching her pounding head. "Be glad that I haven't. Central, status?"

"Thermal sensors reading alien forces fleeing the AO. Report to Big Sky for extraction, Strike Seven. Local military forces will deal with the stragglers,"

The flight back was mostly filled with cheerful chatter among the elated XCOM operatives. Except for Weiss, who was moaning in pain as the full force of her psionic abuse came back to bite her with a vengeance. Despite the painkillers that the medic was administering, nothing seemed to be helping with the burning agony in her head.

"Well, at least your nosebleed's stopped," chuckled Strike Seven's medic nervously.

"Williams, if you weren't the one giving me painkillers, I would strangle you here and now," snarled Weiss, "Of course it's stopped! You've essentially stuffed an entire roll of cotton bandages up my nose! Oooh, my head. Give me another dose, please,"

The medic rubbed the back of his head nervously. "No can do, el-tee. As it is, I'm giving you one dose more than what Dr. Vahlen said I should give anyone. I'm actually surprised that you're not laid out on the floor yet. Besides, we're almost back to base. Dr. Vahlen can have a look at you, if it's that bad,"

She groaned and leaned back in her seat. If using psionics was this painful, she wondered what the effects would be like had she used that Elerium syrette. "For once, that doesn't sound like such a terrible idea,"

* * *

Operation Restoring Hope

Lt. Weiss 'Ice Queen' Schnee: Active (Fatigued)  
Spc. Allen Smith: Active (Disciplinary action for 14 days)  
Spc. Juan Alvarez: Active  
Spc. Ling Li: Active  
Spc. Cameron Connor: Active  
Spc. George Williams: Active

* * *

A/N:

Domination, Psi Panic and lots and lots of weak-willed aliens in close quarters. Totally a recipe for glorious disaster! Now if only there were Chryssalids in the mix... *grins evilly*


End file.
